Metal Twins: vol1 Origins
by HighKnighthood
Summary: Volume 1 of a series that chronicles the mutant twins Metalloy and Alloy, and their interactions with the X-Men. Runaways and fugitives from the law, the two teenage brothers must flee the authorities. But their bigger challenge is not to let their past define them, and to discover the future in store for them. Set in the 15-8 years prior to X-Men: the Movie.
1. Not Such a Happy Home

Author's Note:

The following is a series of stories that chronicles the life of Matthew and Thomas Macarthur, two characters of the author's own creation. They are mutants living in the world of the X-Men.

The plan is to publish the series in volumes which are divided according to major events in the main characters' lives.

The universe in which this takes place is that of the movies _X-Men_ , _X2: X-Men United_ , and _X3: The Last Stand_. The story begins about 15 years prior to the movies and progresses up to and beyond the movies. The author has chosen to ignore movies made after _X3_ either because he was unwilling to modify the story as it already existed in his head or wanted to use characters from those movies in different ways.

While this volume (as an origin story for his own characters) is rather light on other X-Men characters, the author promises to include many more in following volumes.

* * *

 **Metal Twins**

 **Volume 1: Origins**

* * *

A Mental Conversation

 _Are you sure that I'm the guy you want for your team?_

 _"Yes, Matthew, I have been watching you for some time."_

 _Even with my history, my background?_

 _"Yes, I believe that you are a good man."_

 _Professor, the authorities may still be after me, and my upbringing wasn't exactly ideal._

 _"We can protect you from the authorities. You don't have to run anymore. And, Matthew, you are not your father. I would like the chance to show this to you. Will you join us? Will you become one of my X-Men?"_

* * *

Not Such a Happy Home (17 years prior to _X-Men)_

 _Dad's home._ Matthew Macarthur watched nervously as his father entered the house. Matthew was just a ten year old boy, living with his father, his mother, and his identical twin in their Chicago suburban home. But as quaint and nice as things seemed to be on the outside, Matthew's live was anything but nice.

 _Is this going to be a good night or a bad night?_ Thought Matthew. He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. So he silently climbed up the stairs to the second floor loft. There at the edge of the loft laid Thomas, Matthew's identical twin. He was looking down upon the kitchen below. Matthew joined him. He was too scared to be down stairs in case his father got angry, but he had to watch. What else was a ten year old boy to do?

The boy's father approached their mother who was cleaning up after supper. "What are you doing?! Putting things away?! I'm hungry!"

"We just finished eating, dear, but the food is still here," said their mother in a sweet voice. The boys had hear that voice countless times before. Their mother used it whenever she was attempting to calm her husband's anger. She set a plate of food in front of her husband. He immediately dug into the potatoes with his fork, but splat the food out again.

"This food is cold! I come home after a hard day's work, and all I want is a nice, warm, home-cooked meal."

"But dear, I never know when you're coming home. I cooked this for the boys and me about 15 minutes ago. If you would have come home right away it would have been warm."

"Woman, I don't want to hear you excuses. I just want a warm meal. Is that too hard?"

"No, I can heat it up for you." She put her hand on his plate to take it away, but he grabbed her arm and violently pulled her in front of him.

"Don't touch my food while I'm eating!" Then he struck her in the face, knocking her to the floor. Matthew and Thomas covered their eyes, and their mother began to cry. "I will have order in my house! And a hot meal! I will have no more of this!" He dumped his meal on top of his wife, gravy and all. He then stormed up the stairs to the second floor, there he saw the two boys watching him from the edge of the loft. Matthew cowered in the corner next to Thomas. "What are you two looking at?" Neither boy said a word, as their father entered his bedroom.

The two boys slowly got up and went down the stairs. Their mother was cleaning herself and the floor. "Oh it's all my fault. I should have waited until your father was home before cooking the chicken."

Thomas spoke first. "Mommy, why does Daddy hit you?"

"Oh, he's just upset about something at work. We are here to comfort him and give him our support here at home. I am just not being a good wife."

Then Matthew found the courage to speak, "He shouldn't be hitting you, Mommy."

"I don't expect you to understand this right now, Matthew. Now why don't you two get your jammies on and get ready for bed? You know how your father doesn't like you to be up so late.

"But it's only eight o'clock!"

"Get, now, Thomas; get to bed."

* * *

Fugitives (15 years prior to _X-Men_ )

And so it continued for years. But the boys got older. Matthew got wiser, and Thomas got angrier. And their father got more and more violent. In the boys' twelfth year he had become progressively worse, often beating their mother without any explanation.

One day he came into the house and slammed the door. He immediately walked to the living area under the loft and sat down in his favorite chair. The boy's mother was preparing dinner in the kitchen, and Matthew was helping. Thomas was on the stairs leading up to the loft pretending not to be there. Matthew watched his father. He seemed angry and stressed.

Out of the corner of his eye Matthew caught sight of his mother. She had taken a step forward and then back again. He could see the dilemma in her eyes: go to him and comfort him, or stay invisible like the boys were doing. Then he saw her made up her mind. She took two steps forward when Matthew grabbed her hand, silently pleading her not to do it. She shook off his hand and went forward.

"Honey, you're home early. I don't have anything ready yet, but I can…"

"Woman! Can't you see I don't want to be disturbed? Everyone is always interfering with me: at work, at home." Suddenly he grabbed her and shook her. "Even my own wife pesters me!" He hit her and then threw her on the ground.

Matthew's mother pleaded before him in a truly frighten voice. "I'm sorry. I don't know what you want."

Matthew was paralyzed like many times before. His father continued to shout at her, and he kicked her in the ribs. Suddenly, the thought entered Matthew's mind. _He's going to kill her!_ At that point Matthew changed. He was no longer the scared child. One look across the room to his brother and Matthew knew that Thomas had reached the same point. Wordlessly they communicated what they needed to do.

Matthew walked boldly forward. Thomas too came closer from his position by the stairs. Matthew approached his father as he was on top of their mother, and he said, "Stop." At first it was weak and barely audible, but the second time he mustered the courage and the lung strength necessary. "Stop!"

His father stopped. Slowly his father turned toward him. "What did you just say?"

"I said, 'Stop.'"

At first his father seemed shocked. But then his father's face got red with anger. "You presume to give me, your father, orders. I ought to beat you until you can't speak anymore."

Then Thomas spoke up, "Then you better do so to the both of us."

Their father slowly got up. Their mother remained on the floor. He slowly moved toward Matthew. Thomas stood beside his brother. Matthew felt his heart beating in his chest. His father stood before him, paused, and then reached across his body to deliver a back handed slap.

Then a strange thing happened. Matthew knew exactly what would happen next. He saw the path of his father's hand; he knew where it would hit his face, square on the right jaw. It seemed so clear to him. Matthew knew what was about to happen. His reaction was simple and instinctive. _Block, Armor._ He willed that his face be as hard as metal, such that he would not be hurt.

Then it happened, just as he foresaw. His father's hand hit his face right on the jaw bone. But it didn't hit flesh, rather it hit something hard. The force of the blow knocked Matthew down, but he wasn't hurt. He put his own hand to his jaw, but it didn't feel like skin, rather it felt like metal.

His mother was screaming. Matthew turned around to see his brother, Thomas, trying to hit his father. But his father grabbed Thomas and threw him out in front of the fireplace. Matthew noticed a bit of blood on his brother's hand. Then Matthew saw his father's bloody face. "I going to kill you, boy! No one hits me and gets away with it!"

His father charged at Thomas, who got on his feet and ran up the stairs. His father grabbed the poker from the fire place and followed him up the stairs. Fearing for his brother's life Matthew chased after them. He got up the stairs into the loft where he saw his father, fire poker raised, strike down on his brother. Thomas raised his arm to block the poker, and the distinctive sound of metal striking metal could be heard.

CLANG. And then he struck again. CLANG. And again and again. CLANG… CLANG... CLANG. He delivered blow after blow until the fire poker was bent out of shape. Thomas' arm was still raise, and the gleam of metal shown in the low light of the loft.

His father looked at the bent metal in his hand and the metal coating his son's arm. "You mutant freaks! I ought to have killed you on the day you were born."

Matthew looked at his hand. As it formed a fist metal encased it like a glove. He walked forward and began to hit his father. Thomas did the same. Their father fought back, yet whenever he would strike, Matthew could see beforehand where the blow would land, and thus Matthew could move out the way before the blow even came.

Then their father changed tactics. Instead of throwing punches he began to wrestle. Matthew felt himself being tossed further back into the loft. He got up and again saw his father attacking Thomas. He had his hand around Thomas' throat, trying to strangle him, but Thomas delivered a strong kick to the knee, causing him to drop Thomas. Matthew charged in, and Thomas landing on his feet also pushed hard. Both brothers using their young twelve year-old bodies pushed their father into the loft railing. At first the railing held, but then it began to give way, until it broke free under the force of their father's impact.

What happen next seemed like an eternity for the brothers. Their father fell in slow motion, back first over the edge of the loft, down to the first floor. And then he landed…on the glass coffee table in the middle of the floor. There he lay sprawled out, perfectly within the frame of the table except his legs which had landed on the metal frame. Glass and blood was all over the floor. And it was silent.

The brutal man lay motionless before them. They just looked down upon him.

The silence was broken by screams. "Johnathan! Johnathan!" Their mother rushed to her husband's side. He didn't response to her. Then she looked up at her sons. "Murders! Murders!" She turned to the door. "Murders! Someone please help! Help!"

Fear came upon the brothers. One look at each other and they knew they were thinking the same thing. _Run!_

They turned and ran to their room. Thomas went straight to the window, paused, encased his arm in metal, and broke the window. He climbed out on to the roof and jumped from the second story to the ground. Matthew followed. He landed on his hands and feet, and he rolled to avoid hurting himself. Thomas was already on top of the wooden fence, offering his hand. Matthew took it, and both of them jumped the fence.

They cut through backyards, hopped fences, ran through alleyways and across streets. They ran and ran; never separating and always helping the other. Driven by fear, they ran miles in the dark. Finally Matthew spoke.

"Thomas, we need to stop."

"No, we can't. They will catch us."

"We can't out run them. We need to hide."

And so they did. They escaped deep into the city. They found a freeway overpass. A homeless man had already claimed the spot, but he didn't wake. They found themselves a somewhat comfortable spot, and they lay together and slept through the night.

That was the very first night that the brothers Matthew and Thomas spent as fugitives. They would soon get used to it.


	2. Young Fugitives

A Change of Fortune (15 years prior to _X-Men_ )

The first couple weeks of homelessness were the toughest. Having only the clothes on their backs and no money or food, the brothers were at the lowest poverty.

At first they tried to beg for food or money. But then the police tried to take them to social services. Knowing that they would be identified at the police station, they escaped from police car while it was parked.

Then they began dumpster diving for food. They had figured out which restaurants threw out the most food, but the workers would often chase them away. Many days they would go hungry. Neither of them ever forgot what it was like to feel their stomachs empty; to be at the point of starving.

Tiring of garbage food as well as fearing illness, they began to steal food. They soon became pros at breaking locks. They discovered that the metal their bodies produced could not only be used to coat their skin, but also could be used as tools. So they fashioned knives to break locks. Eventually Thomas learned how to make and use lock picks, which he then taught to Matthew. They could break into cars, grocery stores, restaurants. Occasionally they stole other necessities such as clothing.

A couple days after they ran away from home, they found a discarded newspaper. In it was their story. The headline read, "Wanted: Matthew and Thomas Macarthur; 12 year old identical twin males…for the murder of their father…believed to be mutants and extremely dangerous." This squashed any thoughts that the brothers had of turning themselves in. Further in the article they saw more details. Their father had been taken by ambulance to the hospital where he was declared dead. Their mother had been taken into protective custody, saying that she feared for her life.

Seeing their names publicized the brothers decided they need code names. It was Thomas' idea to pick the names based on their mutant ability. So they came up with matching names appropriate for metal wielding twins. Matthew chose Metalloy, and Thomas chose Alloy.

One day about two months after they had run away from home their fortunes changed. They had scouted a store that had no security cameras which had become a problem for them. It was small, but it had plenty of food in its walk-in-refrigerator. The man who ran the place lived in an apartment above the store, but the brothers were confident they could get in and out without waking him.

So they broke into the store as they had dozens of stores before. Matthew picked the front door lock with ease. Thomas went right to the walk in refrigerator. The refrigerator was locked. An unexpected delay, but nothing Thomas couldn't handle. Matthew kept watched the front door and the door that lead to the apartment above. He never did hear the back storage room door open, nor did he hear the man approaching. But he did hear the sound of the shotgun's pump action.

"What do you hoodlums think you are doing in my store?"

Matthew froze in fear. Could his metal block a shotgun blast? It was probably best to try and talk his way out of this one. Thomas had already given up on the lock. If Matthew didn't do something soon his brother would, and that would probably get them shot.

"We're, umm… We're trying to steal food. We're sorry to steal from your store, sir, but if we don't steal our food, we don't eat." Matthew put every bit of sadness and pitifulness he could into the words.

The man stood there for a long while. Then he spoke, "You're Matthew and Thomas Macarthur."

The brothers glanced at each other in surprise and fear. Do they admit it? Will he turn them over to the cops? "No, sir, we are just hungry boys. We will leave. We can get food from other stores. We will never come to your store again."

"Don't lie to me, boy. I recognize you from the wanted posters. I had imagined being the one to find you, but I never thought it would actually happen. I wanted to see the boys who killed that backstabber."

Matthew opened his mouth to speak, and then the old man's last words sank in. "You knew our father."

"Metalloy!" Thomas' warning was too late. Matthew had just admitted their identities.

"Yes, I knew your father. We used to work together until he stabbed me in the back and left me with nothing. You boys said you wanted food?"

Matthew and Thomas look at each other. Matthew answered cautiously, "Yes."

"I was just eating dinner when you boys tripped my alarm. Come upstairs and I'll fix you something warm."

Matthew looked at Thomas. Should they go? Thomas shrugged his shoulders. "If you put that shotgun away."

The old man laughed. "And they are smart too. Alright, boys, I'll put the shotgun away if you promise not to cause me any trouble. Okay? Good. Now come along. I'm guessing you boys haven't had a hot meal since you left home."

The old man went back to the storage room where Matthew watched him shut a trap door in the ceiling. "So that's how you snuck up on us."

"Yeah, I put that in a while ago."

"Along with a door alarm?" Thomas asked.

"You never know who will drop by after hours."

They went up the stairs into the apartment and into the kitchen area. "There is some chicken on the counter, and I can heat up some leftover steak from last night."

The brothers start digging into the chicken like they have never eaten before. "Boy, you two are hungry! I will have to make a little more tomorrow."

Matthew stopped. "Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I figured you boys could use a place to stay the night. Wake up to some breakfast in the morning."

"Why would you do that?" asked Thomas.

"It's like I said. Your father was a good for nothing backstabber. I had to work with him; you had to live with him. I figure you boys deserve some good things to come your way. My name is Victor O'Malley. You boys are welcome to stay here the night and the next night. I won't send you on your way until I feel you boys can handle yourselves."

"We greatly appreciate it, Mr. O'Malley"

"Please, No! Call me Victor. And which one are you, Matthew or Thomas?"

"Matthew"

"Good. And you're Thomas."

"I guess that's all that's left."

"Huh, a clever one! I suppose you don't trust me yet. Well, that's smart."

* * *

Bad News (13 years prior to _X-Men_ )

A simple overnight turned into two years. The boys soon got use to their new home. Victor had taught them many things about how to stay hidden. He seemed to have a lot of knowledge in that area. They learn how to make false ID's, how to avoid interaction with police, and how to maintain a low profile. He even got them into a middle school. He claimed that education was important even to fugitives. The fourteen year-old boys had just completed eight grade.

Victor always had them read the paper to see if there were any public service announcements concerning them. One day Thomas picked up the paper in front of the store. He brought it up and set it on the table. Victor as always grabbed the front page. Matthew had recently taken interest in White Socks baseball which was just beginning the season, so he took the sports page.

Thomas grabbed the local news section. He spotted an article, "Grieving widow and mother commits suicide after two years." Fearful he read the article as it gave a description of the woman's suicide. Matthew and Victor were reading their sections when Thomas spoke up.

"Mom's dead."

The other two slowly lowered their papers.

"What did you say, Thomas?"

"Mom's dead, Matthew. She committed suicide. It's right here in the paper." He handed Matthew the paper. Matthew read the article slowly.

Matthew slammed the paper down, and put his hands to his eyes trying to hold back the tears. Thomas was also welling up. Despite his best effort Thomas put his head on the table and cried a little.

Victor put his arm around Matthew, while he read the article. The article told briefly the story of their father's death and their run from the law. Their mother died leaving no note, but with a family portrait in her arms. She had shot herself.

Matthew speaks first. "We failed, Alloy. She's dead because of us."

Victor didn't miss a beat "Don't you talk that way, son. You know that your father is responsible for this. He beat her, he left her, and now his memory has finally killed her. There never was anything you could have done."

Thomas then spoke, "But why kill herself? He's gone. She drove us out of the house. She didn't want us anymore."

"Well, Thomas, maybe that's just it. Maybe it was the guilt. Maybe she blamed herself for his death, and maybe she felt guilty for driving you two away. You two always told me how she blamed herself whenever he got mad."

"Yeah that's true." said Thomas.

"But where did she get the gun?" Matthew asked.

"Your father must have kept a gun in the house."

"Yeah, a shotgun in his closet. But this article says she killed herself with a pistol."

"There was no pistol in the house?"

"No"

Victor suddenly becomes uneasy. "Well, however this happened, one thing is for sure. This will renew the search for you two. We have to be extra careful now. A low profile. Matthew, no more sneaking into Sox's games."

"What?!"

"If you get caught they will recognize you. And Thomas, no more street fights."

"I'll try."

"And we will have to see what to do about your schooling next fall. It might be too dangerous."

* * *

Midnight Break-In

Victor had become more unsettled in the past few days. He forbade the boys from even leaving the upstairs apartment on some days. He began to leave at night mysteriously.

One night when he was home a window was broken in the store. Victor grabbed his shotgun and slipped down the trap door, instructing Matthew and Thomas to stay upstairs. They hid at the top of the trap door to listen.

"Stop right there, you hoodlums!"

"Don't shoot, old man. There are more of us than of you."

"Who are you?"

"Oh, just some kids looking for trouble."

"You don't look like kids to me. Those are some nice pieces you got there. Mind telling me who sent you here."

"Huh, the boss said he'd still be sharp."

"The boss, you say. Who would that be?"

"If you don't know then you are not as sharp as he thinks."

"I am giving you one last chance. Leave now and you all can return home in one piece. I got you boys covered, and I could get everyone of you before you could even point those guns at me."

"I don't think so, old man."

"Well maybe not, but I guarantee you I will not sell myself without a few of you with me. Do you want to risk being one of them?"

Matthew begins to get nervous. People had broken into his place before, but nobody had ever challenged Victor before. These people seemed to know him, and they had guns. It was like they came here to kill him.

"What? No tour of the home. What kind of a host are you?"

"One that blows holes in unwelcome guests."

"Ha ha. Now, nobody wants that. We just want a look around."

"Look, there's the exit. Tour's over."

"Just put the shotgun down, old man. Don't make us kill you."

"That's not going to happen, boy."

"Last chance, old man."

"Let's see what you got, boy."

Then suddenly a gun fired, followed by the shotgun's blast. More guns fired, but the shotgun kept up its blasts. A man screamed. Matthew couldn't hold back anymore. He jumped down the trap door. After he landed he felt another thump beside him and felt Thomas' hands on his back. The gunshots began to taper off. Another blast came from the shotgun, follow by a series of pistol shots.

Matthew ran into the room. Three men were lying dead with shotgun wounds. Victor was lying behind a counter, the shotgun beside him and bullet wounds in his chest.

The last gunman was coming around the counter. As he spoke Matthew recognized the voice as the man threatening Victor. "The boss had hoped you would die." He raised his gun to shoot Victor.

"No!" Matthew shouted. The man saw him and immediately changed his aim. Matthew saw the bullets coming even before the man had fired them. Three of them were coming toward him and were going to hit him in the body and the head. Matthew put his arms up to shield his face. He heard the gun shots and felt the bullets bounce off the metal coating his arms and stomach.

Matthew peaked between his arms. The gunman looked frighten and he frantically was trying to reload he pistol. Matthew felt Thomas run by him. Matthew followed his brother's charge. Thomas hit the man in a football style tackle. The gunman was knocked back but stayed on his feet. The clip for his pistol fell out of his hand.

Matthew then went for the tackle. Being stronger than his brother Matthew succeeded in knocking the man over. The man then struck at Matthew with him gun. But Matthew again saw it coming and the gun butt only succeeded in hitting the metal that Matthew had formed under his hair.

"I'll kill you mutant freaks, just like I killed him!"

He grabbed Matthew and threw him off of him. He then put a new clip in his gun and pulled back on the slide.

Thomas charged again, but this time he had a knife in his hand, which he had formed out of metal. He stabbed the man in the gut. The man curled in on his gut and was in pain. Matthew got on his feet. He formed a metal knife of his own on his forearm, which dropped into his hand. Thomas pulled his knife back out and overhand stabbed it into the man's chest. Matthew at the same time stabbed the man in the back.

The man stumbled forward. Thomas got out of the way as the man fell.

The brothers immediately ran behind the counter to Victor who was laying on his back and struggling to breathe. "Victor!"

"Boys," he said managed to say. He swallowed, coughed out blood, took a breath, and said, "Leave town."

"What?" said Matthew.

"Leave town. It is not safe here. You must go."

"But what will we do? We won't make it without you." Thomas sounded like he was pleading.

"Yes you will. I taught you all you need to know. But before you go there is something you need to know."

"What? What is it?"

Victor coughed. More blood came out. He coughed again. "I can't…"

"No, no, Victor no."

"Go!" He coughed twice more, and then he stopped. He stopped coughing; he stopped talking; he stopped breathing. He was still.

The brothers didn't move. They just stayed there. Sirens sounded, followed by flashing lights.

"Thomas, we have to go."

Neither moved.

"Alloy…"

"Let's get out of here."

And so the brothers left all they ever knew again. They were able to grab their getaway bags that Victor had made for them which included clothes and lots of money. They ran straight for the buses.

When they got there a homeless man saw them. "Do you have a bit of change for a poor man?"

"No."

"Metalloy!"

"What?"

Thomas scanned the bus schedule, and then turned to the homeless man. "Do you want to go to Detroit?"

"Detroit sounds nice."

"Okay, we'll give you the money for the tickets plus a little extra if you pretend to be our dad."

"Okay."

So the boys rode with a homeless man to Detroit. There they would be able to start fresh. With the things Victor taught them they would be fine. But it seemed that their one shot as a normal life ended with Victor's death.


	3. Motor City

Finding a 'Mom' (13 years prior to _X-Men_ )

The first night after arriving in Detroit the boys stayed at a shelter with the homeless man they had met in Chicago, who called himself Gus. They knew that they needed to be with an adult in order to avoid being picked up by police and child services. They also knew that Gus wasn't going to cut it for them. So they left the next morning.

They had no idea where to find an adult willing to take them in with no questions asked. Then Thomas came up with a crazy idea.

"Why don't we hire someone?"

"What? Hire a parent? Who would do that?"

"Someone who hires themselves out for other illegal activities."

"Are you sure you want to go there?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

So the brothers patrolled the sketchy parts of town at night. They had no fear of such places anymore. It seemed natural to them. Some people didn't care about them. Others tried to convince them it wasn't a place for little boys.

They saw a lot of things that they wish they hadn't. A lot of women were being mistreated, reminding the boys of what their mother had gone through. They had come to a silent consensus that this was a bad idea when they spotted a woman coming out the back of a building for a smoke.

She was wearing colorful, revealing clothing and too much makeup. The look on her face was one of weariness and disappointment. She stood next to the alley dumpster smoking her cigarette.

Matthew looked at Thomas, who in turn shrugged. They approached the lady. Before Matthew could even smell the tobacco smoke he could sense its danger. It wasn't an imminent danger, but he could still sense it. Thomas spoke first.

"Excuse me, miss, are you for hire?"

She stopped and looked at the two kids. "Not for someone as young as you two. This is no place for kids. Why don't you just go home?"

Matthew replied, "We can't. We don't have a home."

"And we are not looking to hire you for your normal work. We have something a little more unusual in mind," added Thomas.

"Nothing's unusual anymore, kid. Now get out of here."

"We want to hire you to be our mother."

The woman froze for a bit and then replied, "You want me to visit your father?"

"Our father is dead. We are on our own," Matthew explained. "We don't need anyone to take care of us. All we need is someone to pretend to be our mother on a few occasions in order to avoid the police and child services."

"We can take care of all the paperwork," Thomas supplied. "We know how to fake birth certificates, and I bet we could even get you a fake state ID."

The woman stared at them for a long while. Then finally she let out a long breath and asked in an unbelieving voice, "How old are you kids?"

"Fourteen" they answer in unison.

"What are you twins?"

"Yes"

"Okay, say I even considering this, and say I actually believe that you can do these things you claim; how do you expect to pay me?"

Matthew watched his brother scan the alley. When Thomas briefly nodded, Matthew unzipped his duffle bag and revealed the wads of cash in the bag. The woman took a shallow intake of air. Matthew knew they were getting somewhere. "Naturally we can't use it all on you, since we will need enough to survive ourselves, but there would be a large amount available to you."

She took another drag on her cigarette and paused. "What would be my responsibilities?"

"You would have to help us establish a place to stay with an address that will hold up to scrutiny, and then you would have to get us into a high school."

"I would have to live with you at least part time for that to work. And getting you into a school is not that easy. I can't believe I am having this conversation! How long of a commitment are we talking?"

Matthew looked at Thomas who answered, "We were hoping to hire you for four years. You know until we're eighteen."

"Hah! Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for four years. I don't think you boys have the money for that."

Matthew again looked at his brother searching him for ideas. _Maybe this isn't going to work._

But them Thomas spoke up. "What if we paid you a lump sum now for the initial acting and another after you get us into a school? After that we could pay half your rent and utilities for the next four years."

She put the cigarette to her mouth again only to realize that it was done. She tossed it on the ground and quashed it with her shoe. She paused again. "Two lump sums and rent assistance?"

"We would buy our own food." Matthew added. Then an inspiration came to mind. "If you take this deal you will cut your expenses by half. You wouldn't have to do this kind of thing as often," as he waved his arm towards the building.

She looked at the building. Matthew knew that he pushed the right button. She looked at the boys, then back at the building. "Oh hell, why not? This is stupid, but just maybe it will help. What are your names, crazy kids?"

"My name is Matthew, and this is Thomas"

"How about last names?"

"We will make up new last names. Our old ones will get us in trouble. What is your name?"

"Nichol."

"But it says Nancy on your shirt" noted Thomas.

"The men like it better, and I generally don't tell clients my real name."

So thus Nichol and the boys struck a deal. They paid her fifteen hundred dollars right there in that alley. She walked into the building, and came out a few minutes later with her coat. They walked with her. As they walked Matthew noticed their route made no sense. "Where are we going?"

"Home. I've learned from experience not to let work follow me home."

"I'm glad to hear that."

They finally arrived at her apartment. She let them in. It was a simple place with almost no furniture. It had a main room, a small kitchen, a bathroom, and two bedrooms rooms.

"Do you have a roommate?"

"No, not at the moment. I suppose you two count as roommates now."

"Will you landlord care that we are here?" asked Thomas.

"No, I'll just tell him that you are my kids and my ex-boyfriend just died."

"Hear that Matthew? She's a natural."

"You two stay here while I change. You can watch TV or something. All I get is basic cable."

After she showered and changed she came back out to the main room. She looked like a completely different woman. She now wore a modest outfit of comfortable looking sweat pants and a sweatshirt. Without her makeup she had simple pale white skin. Matthew was surprised at the transformation, and he realized a bit more how much she disliked her way of life.

"I guess you boys can have the extra bedroom, but I don't have any furniture in there."

"That's fine, we've slept in worse places."

* * *

A Tired Administrator

Ms. Grindel was exhausted. It had been a tough day. The kids were gone now, and she had just a few minutes before her next appointment. This was her only time to relax.

She thought back to her college days when she was an enthusiastic education major. She zealously wanted to work in the inner city schools. She wanted to offer that great gift of education to those beautiful boys and girls who were poor and practically living on the streets. She wanted to show all the ways in which a good education could open unlimited doors for them.

Now 30 years later she sat in the principal's office trying to get 5 minutes of rest. A group of senior boys had plugged the toilets flooding the girls' bathroom. One girl sprayed hair spray in the eyes of one of the English teachers. Some freshman in Spanish class managed to learn multiple Spanish swear words before even learning to say "Como estas…Estoy bene." And to top it off a sophomore was caught carrying a knife. The police had to come and everything.

In just a few minutes a mother would be coming to her office wishing to enroll her boys in the school. _Why don't you just wait till next year?_ It was already two weeks into the semester. These boys would have to play catch up. _If you waited two weeks maybe you could wait 10 more minutes and let me sleep._

A knock on the door. _No such luck._ "Ms. Grindel, your 4 o'clock is here."

"Thank you, Stacy."

The door opened, and a woman with two boys stepped in. The woman's face was pale and wore no makeup. She was dressed in simple clothing, grey and well worn, which Ms. Grindel had learned was a sign of poverty. The boys' clothing was no better. They had holes in their jeans and the hems on their shirts were worn. The boys were certainly brothers and possibly from the same father by the looks of them. Ms. Grindel had a hard time identifying which one was older. Neither boy looked her in the face.

"You must be Ms. Fitzpatrick."

"Yes, I am. And these are my boys Matthew and Thomas."

"Pleased to meet you Matthew and Thomas. I am Ms. Grindel. I will be your principal."

The boys both looked up at her and then back down. It was creepy how they seem so perfectly synchronized.

"Your message said that you wanted to enroll your boys in school here."

"Yes"

"Are you aware that the school year started two weeks ago?"

"Yes, but we have been making some adjustments at home. The boys were previously living with their father, but now I have custody of them."

"Will their father continue to be involved?"

"No, their father passed away."

"Oh I'm so sorry." Ms. Grindel knew better than to press for details. _Those boys didn't even flinch at the mention of their father. With so much going on they must be emotionally dead. More work for the counselors._

"Is it too late to enroll them?"

"No, it's not. But they will be starting a little behind in their classes. I encourage them to visit our counselors to help them catch up with their classmates. The counselors are also available for other services as well."

"Oh, that's good to hear."

"Do you have their paper work?"

"Yes, I have official copies of their birth certificates here. And here are their previous transcripts."

Ms. Grindel took the papers and right away looked at the birth certificates. _Now which one is older?_ She scanned them over. _Wait a second! Did I miss read that?_ She looked again. "They're twins!"

"Yes, about seven and a half minutes apart. Longest seven and a half minutes of my life."

One of the boys elbowed the other. _Matthew I think. He must be the older._ "Well then, I guess they will both be freshman." Ms. Grindel scanned the transcripts. She had seen her fair share of fake documents. They usually would have obvious errors on them, and none of them had the right seal on them. But these ones seemed legit right down to the office Michigan state seal. "These transcripts look all right. I will have my secretary look them over, but I don't anticipate any trouble. Have your kids come to the school tomorrow. They can come to the front office. We can get all things arranged in the morning and hopefully get them in class by the afternoon."

"Thank you so much, Ms. Grindel," The woman shook hands with Ms. Grindel. "Come now boys, let's go home."

Another knock on the door. "Ms. Grindel, there's an officer from the precinct here to talk about our security."

"Thank you, Stacy." _Great, he wasn't supposed to show up till tomorrow._ "Send him in."

The officer came in just as the woman and her sons were leaving. The boys had no reaction to the officer; they just kept their heads down, but the mother on the other hand seemed a bit jumpy. "Excuse me, officer."

"No, excuse me, miss."

Ms. Grindel noticed the woman's jumpiness. _Is she nervous about something?_ But then the officer sat down at the available seat. Ms. Grindel had her own problems to deal with. "So, officer, how can I help you?" _Will this day never end?_

* * *

The First Fight of Many

The first couple days of high school were certainly difficult for Thomas. Starting two weeks late was his idea. He thought it would aid their cover as children who had just moved in with their mother. He was right, but he underestimated how hard it was to start school after his classmates had a two week head start. He would catch up, he was sure.

He also underestimated how much attention a pair of twins entering late would get. The whole class took note of Matthew and him. It was attention that Thomas did not want. _The fewer people who notice us the better._ But now some members of their class and even a few teachers were trying to set him and Matthew up with a set of girl twins also in the class. Thomas found both girls annoying and tried to avoid them. The problem is that they would occasionally flirt with him and Matthew.

The attention also got the boys in the class riled. Both he and Matthew were taller than most of their classmates. Some of the boys were such glory hounds that they couldn't stand being upstaged. Sooner or later Thomas and Matthew would begin to blend in, but until then Thomas anticipated a fight. _Let them come._

One fight had already been avoided. In math class a girl had taken the kindness to help Thomas out a bit. She helped him understand the algebra. But then a guy came and pushed him. He warned him not to hit on his girl. Thomas couldn't care less about the girl, but he felt the boy deserved a bloody nose. Matthew had stopped him right before he was about to wind up for the punch. Neither he nor Matthew wanted to attract attention, but unlike Matthew who would avoid a fight at all costs, Thomas was ready to let them have it.

So now Thomas strolled down the hall to his next class, US history. A sign on a bulletin board caught his attention. _I have a minute or two._ He read the sign. "Martial arts: Karate lessons three hours a week. Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:30-5:00." _Hmm… Karate._

Thomas saw the push coming before it happened. He had his hands up to brace himself against the wall before the hand tried to push him into it. The force came; a hand to the back. Thomas allowed himself to spin off the wall so he could face his attacker. _Ah, the boy from math class._

"I think you and I have a problem, new kid."

"How so?"

"You and your brother think your pretty hot stuff. Coming around this school; hitting on all the girls in our class. Well you better know I'm the king of this class."

"What idiot crowned you?" Thomas watched as his buddies created a half circle around them; ready to block Thomas' exit and to get a good view. _This ought to be good._

"You better learn some respect, or I'll knock that smile off your face."

"I'd like to see you try."

That did it. The big kid pulled his arm back to hit Thomas. He was so slow Thomas didn't even need his mutant ability to see it coming. Thomas simply ducked the punch, and gave the kid a straight punch to the gut. The kid curled over, but Thomas grabbed his head, pulled him up, and gave him a punch to the face. _Ah a broken nose._ The kid stumbled back with his hands to his now bloody nose. "Hit him."

One of the other boys in the half circle moved forward. Thomas turned toward him only to see the boy get spun around and hoisted off the ground. Matthew had him by the shirt almost completely in the air. He slammed him into the lockers. "You will stay out of this if you know what's good for you."

 _Too late, Metalloy._ Two boys went to attack Matthew. One tried to tackle him. Matthew simply redirected him…right into a locker. The second went for a punch to the face. Matthew dodged it and delivered two punches to the gut. The kid threw up on the floor.

By this time others had jumped Thomas, but they were no match. Thomas could see every move they made against him before they made it. And he hit harder than they did.

It was three bloody noses, one boy throwing up, and one crying by the time the hall monitor got there. Matthew and Thomas were dragged into detention. They missed their classes. Neither said a word.

An hour or so after school, Nichol showed up. "Ms. Grindel tells me that you two got in a fight with a couple of boys in the hall."

"I counted eight."

"Huh, well let's go home."

On the walk back Nichol spoke up again. "Is this going to be a regular part of my job, bailing you out of detention?"

"Possibly."

"Hmm…Well I guess I can play along. It's not like I have better things to do during the day. Matthew, is your brother telling the truth, were there eight of them?"

"Yeah, but one didn't fight. Too scared."

"I'm not going to ask how you learned to fight."

"Hey, Metalloy, do you want to take up an after school activity?"

"Like what?"

"I saw a poster for a martial arts studio on the bulletin board. They offer Karate lessons Tuesdays and Thursdays."

"What is eight kids not enough? Do you two want to take on an army?" asked Nichol.

"It might come in handy."

And so it went. They boys continued at school. Fights would break out occasionally. Thomas was always in the thick of it, but Matthew always would come to the help. They never lost a fight. They earned a reputation of being great fighters in their school. They were threaten with expulsion once, but all the teachers knew that they didn't start the fights.

Thomas took in the lessons of the Karate class, although he cheated on the block breaking exercise by coating the side of his hand with metal. He like the leg work and the movement it gave him. He became quite the quick fighter. He noted that Matthew focused on strength. Soon Matthew began to put on muscle weight making his tall stature even more imposing. He also worked on punching techniques, giving him a really powerful jab.

The boys began practicing against each other. This built up their fighting skills, but it also developed their mutant abilities. With practice they could see each other's blows more clearly. They also learned to use their metal in different ways: spot armoring their body, armored fists, and even making external weapons such as knives. Metalloy began practicing with a quarter staff as long as he was tall, and Alloy learned to fight with tonfa style batons. Soon the brothers were earning black belts in various martial arts, and becoming truly dangerous fighters.

* * *

The Girl

Other than fights Matthew tried his best to maintain a low profile. He didn't associate much with other students. He just tried to focus on his school work. So when the chemistry teacher assigned lab partners Matthew had hoped to be assigned to someone that would not be a problem.

"Ah Matthew, why don't we put you with Doug…ah no; how about Lillian and Matthew. Yes, you two are partners."

"Yes, Mrs. Glennus." _Oh no, A girl!_ Matthew had observed that girls often either tried to hit on him because he was one of the toughest guys in the school, or they ridiculed him for his behavior. Either way it was an unpleasant experience. This Lily Davis was a quiet one. Perhaps they could get the lab done quickly and be done with it.

Lily came to his lab station quietly. She looked at him and then looked away. _Is she afraid of me? I suppose that's only natural._

"Listen up class. On the stock table are three chemicals. Each lab group is to take a test tube of each chemical. You will then identify each one. The possible answers are on your lab sheet. I expect each group to be able to explain how you drew your conclusions. You will not get any credit for a lucky guess. I expect you to tell me how you know. And remember your safety instructions. If I spot any safety violations that will be immediate dockage."

Chemistry wasn't Matthew's strong point. The general concept escaped him. "I'll get the chemicals." Lily didn't respond. Matthew picked up a test tube of each chemical. As he brought it back to his lab table he noticed Lily eyeing the chemicals. _She's eager. Looks like I lucked out. She might actually know what she's doing._

He set them in the test tube rack, took a step back, but before he could even think Lily was moving. "What are you doing?"

"Figuring out what this chemical is."

"How?"

"First thing to do is find out if it is an acid or a base. That will eliminate half the possibilities."

"You would use the litmus paper?"

"Yes." Lily proceeded to dip the paper in the chemical. "It's a base."

"Great, which one of these choices is a base?"

"This one right here, Sodium Hydroxide, NaOH."

"How do you know that?"

"Because it has OH at the end. Anything with a hydroxide ion will naturally be a base."

"I can never keep those straight."

"It's not too hard. You know what an acid and a base mixed make, right?"

"A salt?"

"Yes, and water. A metal from the left side of the table combined with an element from the right side makes a salt. The base contains the metal and the OH, the acid contains the right side element and the H. When they combine the metal and the element mix to make the salt and the H and OH make H2O, water."

"Huh, that helps. Why did you figure that out and I didn't?"

"I guess chemistry comes natural to me. I really like it. It makes sense. The periodic table makes sense; the equations make sense. It's like a picture of how things work. I take it that this is not your favorite class."

"No, I like history."

"History! So much memorizing! It's just a bunch of facts. They don't make sense. There're just there and the teachers make you memorize them."

"It's not just facts, it's a story. To hear how things were centuries ago, what people were doing. How one person's decision makes the difference to the world."

"I never thought of it that way. It just seems meaningless."

"I guess I just enjoy learning something new every class…Whoa, are you finished already?"

"Yeah, it was easy."

"I guess I got the right partner. Although I feel like I didn't do anything."

"You need to write this one on the lab sheet. If it's all my writing Mrs. Glennus will get suspicious. Oh, and you can rise out tubes if you would like."

"One lab assignment together, and she already has me doing the dishes."

"Very funny."

"I do appreciate the help."

"Maybe we could do it again."

"Wouldn't I just slow you down?"

"Everyone slows me down in chem lab. At least you're kind about it."

"Okay maybe we could, although every time I am around a girl for more than two minutes a jealous boyfriend always picks a fight with me."

"I don't have a boyfriend."

"Then maybe we could do it again." _What did I just agree to? So much for low profile! But then nobody pays attention to her. Maybe she's safe. At any rate maybe I'll actually learn something in this class now._

"Time's up everyone. Begin your cleanup and hand in your lab sheets."


	4. Nichol and Her Boys

Nichol Begins to Study (10 years prior to _X-Men)_

Nichol had a depressing morning. She had been up 'working' late into the night, so she slept in till 11:00 A.M. As usual her 'roommates' had left for school. She had eaten a bowl of cereal for lunch, sat in front of the TV, and turned on a soap opera. It was a Wednesday, which meant noting exciting would happen on the show since the excitement was always in the Friday and Monday episodes. It was overcast outside and the whole world seemed sad.

At 2:00 P.M. her shows ended, and she had nothing to watch on TV. This was always a hard hour. She got up and strolled around the apartment. It was then that she noticed a book on the floor. "Great, Thomas forgot his textbook, again." She paused and then laughed out loud. _I'm starting to sound like a real mother._

She looked at the book. It was a history textbook. History was Matthew's favorite subject. Thomas on the other hand enjoyed math. _Could these twins be any more different?_ She opened the book and took a glance at the first chapter, "Ancient societies in the Middle-East and Africa." _Egypt sounds ancient. What the heck is Mesopotamia?_ Nichol scanned the first couple of pages, then the next couple. Before she knew it she was sitting down and reading entire chapters.

Nichol had never completed school. She was born to a single mother who dumped all the available money and time into her addictions. Nichol seriously struggled in school because she never got help at home. She eventually dropped out and was all but forced into the life style she was in now.

She didn't remember school being this interesting.

* * *

Matthew and Thomas were just entering the apartment after school at about 4:00 P.M. Matthew was surprised to see that Nichol was reading something. Normally she was sitting in front of the TV. As soon as she saw the two brothers she looked surprised, then she looked at the clock.

"Oh, you're back already."

"This is when we normally get back on days we don't have martial arts class."

"I guess I lost track of time. Oh, Thomas you forgot your history textbook."

"Yeah, I know. It was kind of awkward in class today." She shut the book and handed it to him.

Matthew gave her a curious look. "Were you reading from the textbook?"

"What? Oh, yes. There was nothing on TV. I thought it might be better than nothing.

"Was it?"

"Oh, it was interesting."

"How far did you get in it?"

"I read something about an Alexander the Greek."

"Alexander the Great? That's like lesson 6! I haven't read that far yet."

"I guess it was interesting."

Thomas snorted, "Great, another history buff in the house. I guess you will be talking Romans and knights and kings soon."

"What's a Roman?"

Matthew answered, "They were a great empire that conquer most of Southern Europe, the Middle-East, and North Africa in the 1st century B.C. They come in the next lesson."

"1st century what?"

"The last one hundred years before the birth of Christ."

"You lost me."

"At the birth of Christ we begin counting the years from zero until the present year. Before his birth we count the years backwards so that the earlier something is the higher the number. Didn't you learn this in school?"

"I stopped going to school after 5th grade."

Matthew was surprised at first. _But then Thomas and I are only going to school because Victor left us the money to do it. Nichol doesn't have any money. She never finished school._ "Oh, I guess that's alright."

"Yeah, alright."

Her voice sounded so distant to Matthew. _She wanted to go to school. She's helping us to go to school, but she never will be able to do so herself._ "If you want I can leave my history book here tomorrow."

"No, you will need it."

"We don't have history class tomorrow. I won't need it until Friday."

"Oh, it's silly. Me an adult reading a kid's history text book."

"Maybe, but it's something to do."

"Yeah, I guess."

"I will set it here." Matthew pulled his history textbook out of his backpack. "Let me know what parts you find interesting."

"Alright Mr. Macarthur. I'll read my homework."

"Hah, Matthew! Now you're a teacher," said Thomas from the table.

"Does that mean I can assign my homework to you?"

"I don't think it works that way."

From that point forward Nichol took an interest in the boys' education. She and Matthew would talk history together. Matthew found that explaining the material helped him study. His own grades rose. Thomas even was teaching algebra to Nichol a couple of nights.

Matthew noticed a slight transformation in Nichol as she began to read more books from a local library. She had a new energy about her. She even began to dress differently. Instead of sweat pants all day, she began wearing jeans. She also began to fix her hair a bit. The gloom that often characterized her was disappearing.

One day Nichol made an announcement to the boys.

"I've decided to try to earn my GED."

"What's a GED?" asked Thomas.

"General Education Degree. It's the degree an adult can earn without going to high school."

"What made you decide to do that?" asked Matthew.

"I figured that I have the time. Besides with this degree maybe I can actually get a day job."

"Really?" asked Thomas suddenly. He had just caught the implications of what she was saying.

"Oh, maybe's it's just a dream. But what the hell?"

"If there is anything we can do to help let us know."

"How about magically coming up with another couple thousand dollars?"

"Yeah, we'll see about that," answered Thomas sarcastically.

They laughed. And Matthew had never seen Nichol so happy.

* * *

An Unwelcome Visitor

Nichol's life had been improving. Now that she had regular employment at a diner she did her night job less and less. On the mornings after an uneventful night she woke up well rested, and she felt a burden lift off her shoulders.

This was not one of those mornings. The man who hired her last night was obsessive. She had been in such situations before, and they never ended well. She needed to get away, so she did what she had to do and left. She went home using her normal tricks to disguise her route, but she couldn't get over the feeling that she had been followed.

Now it was morning, and she had to get to the diner. She drank the last of her coffee, grabbed her jacket, and went out the door. _I hope I don't look too terrible._ She was exhausted not only because she was up late, but also because when she got home she could barely sleep. _Just get through the workday, so you can go home and sleep._

So she worked her shift. Her smiles disguised her weariness. At the end of the shift she was even more wiped out. _Pretending to be awake and cheerful is exhausting._ She fell asleep on the bus ride, but was woken up by a man whom she saw regularly on the bus.

"Hey Nichol, isn't this your stop?"

"Uh? Oh, yes it is. Thank you very much, Ronny."

She walked the five blocks from the bus stop to her apartment in a daze. She got to the door and found it unlocked. _Are the boys home yet? No, I don't see their things. It's 4:00, and they don't have martial arts today. They should be back soon._ She continued to walk in a daze. She took off her jacket and began to undo her tied up hair. It was then she realized she was not alone.

"I've been waiting for you all day. I didn't like the way we left things last night."

She saw the man sitting on the chair in the corner of the room. _Oh no! The guy from last night! He's in my apartment! How did he find it? This is bad, very bad!_ Thousands of thoughts when through her mind. _What do I do? This is not going to end well._

Finally some words came out. "I did what you paid for last night, and that's all." _No, that's not what he wants to her. He doesn't want to buy me, he wants to own me._

"Is that all I was to you, a paycheck? I thought we had something together, Nancy."

"I don't know you."

"But I think I know you. I think we can really get to know each other."

 _Calm down Nichol, you can do this. You've dealt with these types before, just never in your own home._ Then a new horrible thought came to mind. _The boys will be back any minute. This guy is dangerous. If he's here when they get back…I have to get this guy out of the apartment._ "Okay, but not here."

"Why not here? This place is all you. Your cloths, your dishes, your bed. All yours."

"What about what's yours? Maybe we should be at your place again."

"You've already been there. I think we should stay here."

"Maybe we could go to a hotel or…by the Lake, somewhere special."

"This is special…Why are you trying to get me to leave?"

"I just thought it would be better."

"Is it because of the man you live with?"

"What man?"

"I found his cloths in the other bedroom."

"That's just my roommate."

"Just a roommate? And yet you are so determined to get me out of here. Is he your boyfriend? Is there another man?"

"No, no one."

"Liar!"

 _Oh no!_

He got up off the chair and hit her across the face hard. Nichol spun around and landed on the floor. His grabbed her, turned her around, got on top of her, and hit her again. She tasted blood in her mouth. _This is it. I'm going to die._

"You sweet talk me, lead me on. And what? You had another man on the side the whole time. I'm going to make you love me."

Nichol got her hands in his face and scratched hard. He yelled in pain, and then he hit her again.

Suddenly the door slammed. She turned to look. Matthew and Thomas were standing at the door. It was like they were frozen in place. The expression on Matthew's face was not like any she'd seen before. She couldn't read his face. It was just blank.

"Matthew, Thomas, get out of here!"

Neither said a word. But Matthew took three long strides right at Nichol's attacker. The attacker in turn stood up and faced Matthew, "So you're the other…"

Matthew hit him right across the face. He stumbled backwards a bit. Matthew took another long stride and then hit him again, first with a right to the face, then with a left to the gut. Matthew then grabbed him and threw him onto the couch.

Thomas was right there. He waited for the man to stand up and then gave him three jabs to the gut and one to the face.

Again the man staggered back, but suddenly attacked Matthew who was closing in. Nichol let out a scream as she watched his fist hit Matthew's jaw. But instead of Matthew going down, the man clutched his fist and wailed in pain. Matthew grabbed him again and threw him into the kitchen. Nichol tried to see what damage had been done to Matthew. _What is that on his face? It looks like metal._

She was distracted by the sound of a drawer opening. Her attacker now had a large kitchen knife in his hand. "Matthew, look out!"

But it was Thomas who attacked. He jumped over the kitchen island kicking at the man in the process. But the man slipped out of the way, and thrust the knife right at Thomas' side.

"No!" screamed Nichol.

But Thomas hit him with a left to the face. Matthew then grabbed the man and threw him on the ground and started to pummel him with blow after blow. The man was utterly helpless, and Matthew was attacking with a fury that Nichol had never seen before. _He's go to kill him!_ "Stop!"

Matthew stopped. The man's face was bloodied almost beyond recognition. Matthew's hands were covered in blood, but there was a certain glean to them under the blood. Thomas stood above holding the kitchen knife in his right hand by its blade, his right hand completely encased in metal, and a new knife Nichol had never seen before in his left hand. It looked like some kind of combat dagger. Both boys had faces of pure rage.

"Don't kill him."

"Why was he attacking you?"

"He was a customer, a possessive one. He must have followed me home last night."

"What do we do, Metalloy?"

"We let him go."

"He'll call the cops. We can't have that"

"Then let's make sure he doesn't do that, Alloy."

Matthew grabbed the man by his jacket and lifted him up off his feet and against the wall. "Now I know you light headed, but I need you to listen to me."

The man groaned and bowed his head. Thomas, who had dropped kitchen knife, now snapped his right fingers in the man's face. "Hey, listen up." The man looked the Thomas in the eye. "That's better."

Matthew spoke again. "Hear this. You are never to come by here again. You are never to approach this woman again. If either she or one of us sees you ever again, we'll kill you. Do you understand?"

The man nodded. But Thomas put his knife to the man's throat. "Let's just make this clear. Do you understand?"

The man coughed twice and then said, "Yes."

"Yes, what?" said Matthew.

"Yes, I will stay away."

"Or else…?" asked Thomas.

"You'll kill me."

"Good" said Thomas. "Oh, and one more thing." He pulled that man's wallet and removed his driver's license. "We have your address. So if we even see a cop around here then, well…use your imagination." Thomas twirled the knife in his face.

"Okay, I understand."

"Good. Why don't you get rid of this mess, Metalloy? I'll stay with Nichol."

"Sounds good, Alloy. Come on you."

Matthew practically dragged the man out of the apartment.

Nichol attempted to get up, but Thomas came quickly. "No no no. Just take it easy for a bit. Are you alright?"

"Yes, I mean no. I…"

"Calm down. Breathe."

Nichol began to catch her breath that she didn't even know was out of control. Matthew was back before she calmed down. "Matthew, let's get her to a chair." They both helped her into a chair. Thomas went to wash his hands, and he came back with a damp cloth. "Let me try to clean you up."

He used the cloth on her face. She flinched at the pain. "Sorry, I don't have the most gentle touch."

Matthew returned from washing his hands. Nichol noticed that there was not a single mark on his hands. No cuts, no busted knuckles, no blood. "How did you not hurt yourself? And Thomas, didn't you get stabbed?" She pointed to the cut in Thomas' shirt.

The two brothers looked at each other. Matthew gave a shrug. Thomas replied, "We will explain it all in a bit. For now let's just make sure you're okay."

* * *

Matthew stood alone for a bit. Nichol had gone to take a shower.

"We will have to clean up the apartment soon," said Thomas from the chair in the corner.

"I know," Matthew replied. He couldn't get the images out of his mind. One moment he saw that man beating Nichol, the next, his father beating his mother. _It looked so similar._ It also startled him how violent he himself got in reaction. "Thomas, I almost killed that man."

"I was right there beside you, with a knife I might add."

"Yeah, I know. I just can't help, but think that I acted like him."

"Matthew, I better not hear anything like that come out of your mouth again! You defended Nichol. You were protecting a woman from men like him. If you think that puts you on his level, then you better go and turn yourself into the police right now. I don't want hear you comparing yourself to him."

"Who are you talking about?" Nichol had just entered the room. She was wearing her bathrobe and drying her hair with a towel.

Matthew looked over at Thomas. Thomas nodded his head. "We are talking about our father."

"You never talk about your father, or your mother, or anything about your past."

"We try to keep the past in the past," replied Thomas.

"And I've never pried. And maybe I shouldn't now either."

"No that's fine." Matthew took a breath and then explained, "Our father was a cruel man. He beat our mother frequently. It kept getting worse and worse, until one day we decided to do something about it."

"What did you do?"

"We stood up to him. Then he turned on us. We fought him together." Matthew watched as Thomas explained. "He would have killed us that night, but it was that night that Matthew and I discovered our mutant abilities."

"You're mutants."

Matthew was surprised how simply she made that statement. _She's not shocked or repulsed by it._ _She must have figured it out already._ "Yes, our bodies produce this metal which we can shape and use as we want."

She turned to Thomas, "Hence the knife."

"Hence the knife." Thomas had another knife of his own making in his hand just to demonstrate.

"We can also use it as armor. That is why neither of us have injured hands, and why Thomas doesn't have a knife wound in his side."

"What happened to your father?"

"We killed him that night," supplied Thomas.

"You what?"

"It was self-defense, and we really weren't trying to kill him," Matthew answered quickly.

"But the police didn't see it that way. Heck, our own mother didn't see it that way. All they saw was two mutants who had just killed a human."

"When did this all happen?"

"Four years ago."

"When we were twelve."

"And you've been running from the police ever since?"

"Yeah, we wanted for murder back in Chicago." Thomas said.

"That explains all the false ID's and your need for me to pretend to be your mother." Suddenly Nichol looked right at Matthew. "Your brother is right. What you two did for me back there was nothing less than saving my life. There is nothing in common with that act and what your father was doing to your mother. I don't want you thinking about that anymore. I own you two my life. I don't know how I could ever repay you."

Thomas' answer was blunt. "You can start by never returning to your night work again."

"You know I would like that. But how will I be able to pay my bills. I don't make enough money at the restaurant."

Matthew took his opportunity. "We can start working. We will drop our martial arts classes, and start working after school. We three don't need a lot of money. We could easily live off three part-time wages."

"That just puts me more in your debt."

"But it allows us to do for you, what our mother wouldn't allow us to do for her." Matthew added more emphasis. "It will only get easier. Once Thomas and I have our high school degrees and you have your GED, we will be able to work more hours. We can do this, Nichol."

"Okay."

"Okay, what? We want to hear you say it." Thomas clarified.

"Okay, I will not return to my nightly work, again…ever." Nichol took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Matthew got the impression that a burden have just left her. "Never again."

"Good, now why don't you get changed, and Thomas and I will start cleaning the apartment."

Nichol turned to go to her room, but then turned back. Her eyes were welling with tears. "Thank you, you two. No one has ever done such nice things for me. No one." She then turned quickly and went into her room.

Matthew felt the greatest feeling of his life. He felt as though he had just fixed his greatest regret. He looked at Thomas as he began to clean the kitchen. Thomas simply gave a shrug, but Matthew knew that his brother was having a similar experience. _I hope you can rest in peace now, Mom._


	5. Metalloy's Girl

Life as "Normal" (10 years prior to _X-Men)_

Things were different after that day. Matthew and Thomas stopped going to their martial arts classes. They had asked if they could work there, but the trainers said they only took adult employees. The brothers had called a number of places, but so far no answer.

Now they had to go back to school. Matthew found it a bit strange that one day he had nearly beaten a man to death, and a couple days later he was back in a high school. A boy had tried to pick a fight with him already, but something about Matthew made the kid back down. Yes, something was different.

Then it came time for chemistry class, and Matthew's heart lighten a bit. Chemistry was difficult for him, but he none the less enjoyed the class. Or rather he enjoyed the company of a certain classmate, Lily, the girl he been partnered with for a lab a while back. The two of them had formed a study group. He helped her with history and she helped him with chemistry. Sometimes Thomas joined them, but not often.

The class was long, and Matthew struggled to pay attention. Lily was a couple rows to his left. Too far away to talk to each other. Finally the class was over. Matthew timed it just right as he always did to walk alongside Lily as she left.

"Hey, how was your weekend?"

"Good, how about yours?"

Matthew lied, "Okay. Hey! That's not our textbook."

"Oh yeah, this is an organic chemistry book. I find this class to be a bit boring. I want something with higher challenge. I am very interested in plant chemistry. Besides I get all the studying I need in our group. Speaking of which are we going the meet after school?"

"No, I can't today. I have a job interview."

"Matthew Fitzpatrick working a job! Who would have thought? What brought about this change?"

"My mother lost her job. Her new one doesn't pay enough, so Thomas and I are going to find jobs to help out."

"Oh, so you won't have time to study anymore. I mean between a job and martial arts…"

"I quit the martial arts."

"Oh, you really are serious about this. Where will you work?"

"A convenience store. The manager said he has a night shift available."

"Alright then, Mr. Responsible, I be waiting to hear when our next study session will be."

"Okay."

The Flower in the Alley

Matthew and Thomas did land that job at the convenience store. They began working night shifts. Sometimes they were even together. They earned the respect of the nighttime manager when Thomas was able to forcefully remove a troublesome drunk. They were as much bouncers as checkout clerks. The money they earned was little but it helped.

They had been working for about a month when one night the manager entrusted them to handle the last shift together. It was closing time and the night manager stopped by to close.

"Hey boys, how was it tonight?"

"Quiet," answered Thomas.

"Good. Matthew, go lock the doors. Thomas, check the store. I'll take care of the till."

Thomas did his patrol of the store while Matthew locked the doors. By the time they were done the manager had secured the money in the safe room. "Alright boys, punch out and enjoy the night."

"Thank you, sir."

Matthew and Thomas punched their time cards and took off their aprons. They said good night to the manager as they left.

This part of Detroit was a bit dangerous at this time of night, but the brothers certainly weren't scared. They could usually hear the sounds of police sirens or even sometimes the sound of a fight or a gun shot. Tonight was no different. Matthew listened as he walked. It sounded like a fight was nearby. Then he heard a girl's scream. He stopped. _That voice sounded familiar._

Thomas had also stopped. He seemed indecisive. "Metalloy, I am not sure we should be following the sounds of a fight."

"I thought you were always up for a fight."

"I am, but if we start playing hero, we will attract unwanted attention."

"I just want to see what's going on."

"Alright."

Matthew walked toward where he heard the scream. It seemed to come from an alley at the next block.

"Help!" Came the girl's scream.

"Get her!"

"I got her…ugg."

Matthew had just rounded the corner of the alley to see a young girl hit a boy in the mouth. She was surrounded by a gang of boys. Another one of them jumped on her. The weeds in the alley seemed to grow. Matthew was puzzling about this when the girl spoke again. "Get off me, you jerk."

 _Lily!_ The voice was clear, and he knew it was her. Matthew had thought about threatening the group or finding a subtle rescue for the girl, but now that he knew it was Lily he decided the time for subtleties was past.

Matthew walked full stride into the alley. He grabbed the guy on top of Lily, and threw him into the alley wall. He picked Lily up, and moved her to the other wall.

"Stay here."

"Matthew?"

The gang stood silently for a bit. They were surprised at the appearance of a rescuer. But they regained composure quickly.

"Where you come off from, boy? Why are you messing in our business?"

"You and your friends are going to turn around and leave. You will never bother this girl again."

"Or else what? You think you can take us all?"

"I can, and I will."

"Franky, show this wimp what we're made of."

Franky had a goofy smile like he was going to enjoy what he was going to do next. He walked toward Matthew. _Let's see if you're still smiling after this._

Franky charged forward looking to grapple with Matthew, but Matthew simply hit him with a right uppercut to the jaw and a left to the face. Franky stumbled to the ground, but used the opportunity to attack low. But Matthew saw it coming, and delivered a knee to the face. Franky fell backwards and then backcrawled away from Matthew.

The gang leader looked angry. "No one embarrasses me and my gang. Boys, take him down; beat him to an inch of his life."

Two gang members stepped forward, but Matthew felt the air move beside him. Thomas had come right around him and suddenly attacked one of the advancing gang members. As soon as the other turned towards Thomas, Matthew attacked him. It didn't take long for the other gang members to come to the help of their outmatched friends.

This fight was different than others. Matthew had always held back in school fights, because he didn't want to hurt anyone too badly. The man who had attacked Nichol he wanted to cause pain. With these boys Matthew didn't necessarily hate, but he wanted to make sure when he was done that they wouldn't be fighting for a long time. Matthew also felt no reason to hold back on his mutant abilities. He decided now was a good time to use them.

One gang member threw a punch at Matthew. Of course he saw it coming through his sixth sense. He moved his head to the side and pinned the boy' arm between his arms and then pulled his arms so as to bend the boy's arm until he heard the pop of a broken bone.

Then another boy came to tackle him. Although he saw this coming too, he couldn't get out of the way, so he let the boy tackle him. The boy was on top of him and began to punch him in the face. The boy's hand only encountered metal. Matthew then from the underposition began to box the boy in the face, with metal coated knuckles. The boy was bleeding from the nose in no time. Matthew pushed him back and got his legs free. He then gave the boy a double foot kick into the alley wall.

Thomas had already taken down a couple of gang members, and Matthew could see that he too was using his mutant abilities.

"Look out!" came Lily's voice. But no warning was needed. Matthew saw the knife coming from behind him as it moved toward his ribs. He evaded it. The boy with the switchblade was now in knife-fighting position. Matthew evaded a couple more swipes of the blade before he closed the gap between him and the knife man. He grabbed the boys' knife hand and yanked hard on it while putting a foot on the boy's collar bone. The boy screamed as his shoulder dislocated. He dropped the knife and quickly retreated back.

Suddenly a clicking noise was heard, and everything became quiet. The gang leader had produced a revolver and was pointing it with the hammer already pulled at Matthew. "Time to died, hero."

Matthew saw the bullet coming at him, and he knew what to do. The leader pulled the trigger and the bullet hit Matthew right in the chest…and ricocheted of the metal.

The gang leader paused confused. He then pulled back the hammer and fired again. But he got the same effect. Suddenly he turned and fired two shots at Thomas who had just come to join his brother. The bullets ricocheted off Thomas too. He then took aim at Thomas' head. Just before he pulled the trigger Thomas moved his head out of the way. When he took his shot at Matthew's head, Matthew simply moved his hand in the way before the bullet ever left the barrel.

The gang leader was completely frighten now. Matthew and Thomas both took a couple steps toward him. He frantically tried to fire the now empty gun, and then he dropped it and ran out of the alley at full speed. The rest of the gang followed while they nursed their injuries.

Matthew took a deep breath. Thomas picked up the gun with a full metal hand as to avoid fingerprints. Lily was leaning frighten on the alley wall.

"How did you do that?"

"I'll tell you how, but first let's get out of here before the cops come."

The three of them walk out of the alley. Thomas had dismantled the gun into two pieces and left them in the alley. As soon as they were two blocks away Matthew broke silence.

"Thomas, Thank you for helping me out back there."

"Hey, you always have my back in fights. It's nice to return the favor."

"Thank you to the both of you. I won't have gotten away from them," said Lily

"What were you doing out here at night alone?" Thomas asked Lily.

"It's dangerous, Lily," added Matthew.

"I thought I would come by the store and give you a bit of company."

"Don't do that. If you want I'll come to you."

"That's not a good idea either."

"Why not?"

"You didn't tell me how you survived those gunshots."

"Oh, ah, well the thing is…"

"We're mutants," supplied Thomas.

"Mutants?"

"Yep, mutants. Tell her Metalloy."

"Metalloy?"

"It's a code name between the two of us. Yes, we are mutants. We can produce metal in our bodies and use it to fight or armor ourselves."

Lily stopped walking.

"What, does this bother you?" Thomas said in a sharp tone.

"No, it's just that I've never met other mutants before."

It took a second for her words to sink in. "Other mutants?"

"Yes, I too am a mutant."

"I don't believe it," said Thomas. "What can you do?"

"I can make plants grow."

"Yeah right! You made that up!"

"Alloy, look!"

Matthew had noticed the plants in the alley, but hadn't given them much thought. But now the sidewalk square they were on had plants all around it, and they were growing right before their eyes. One plant was coming up through a crack. It continued to get bigger until it broke the cement.

"I guess this explains your interest in plant chemistry."

"Yeah."

Thomas looked a bit flustered. "I guess I own you an apology. I thought you were just making it up just to have something in common with Matthew. I'm sorry, Lily."

"Treasure that, Lily. You wouldn't hear too many apologies from him."

"We should leave here, Metalloy."

"You two go. I can walk home from here."

"Let us walk you home."

"No, it's not far really."

"Matthew's right, we didn't just pull you out of that mess just so you could get jumped again."

"Okay."

They walked together down the streets. They talked all about their struggles with their mutant abilities. Matthew spoke of how careful he needed to be in fights. Lily told him about how it felt as though a part of her was being ignored and hidden. Thomas chimed in a few times, but mostly stayed quiet.

They left the business area and found themselves in a neighborhood. The houses were old, pressed close together, but still in descend shape. Matthew noticed a slight nervousness in Lily as they walked further into the neighborhood. _What? Doesn't she want us to see where she lives?_

Suddenly she spoke in a hurried voice. "That's my home, three houses down. Thanks for what you did and for walking me home. Have a nice night boys." And then just as quickly as she had rattled those words off she turned and ran to the house.

Matthew stood and watched her run to the door, slip a small key into the lock, and disappear inside. _I guess it's only fair. It's not like I'm telling her about my home._ He turned to Thomas, who shrugged his shoulders, turned, and started walking back home. Matthew turned and followed him. "Thanks again, Alloy."

"Don't mention it, Metalloy."

They didn't speak for the rest of the walk. But Matthew was too busy thinking about Lily to wonder what his brother was thinking. _She is kind of cute, and now that I know she is a mutant we really do have something in common._

* * *

Thomas had enjoyed backing up Matthew in a fight. It really did feel like he was paying Matthew back for all the times he had dragged Matthew into a fight. But Thomas felt a little uneasy about the way Matthew and Lily talked. He could see that Matthew was beginning to really like this girl. _I guess I shouldn't be upset just because I don't date._ Thomas did have to admire the way Matthew fought for her. Thomas enjoyed fighting much more than his brother, but he could see that when Matthew had a stake in the fight he would put his all his energy into it. _And that makes him a very dangerous man._

In the end Thomas decided that Lily would be good for Matthew. _She might give him something to fight for._

* * *

The First Kiss

From that night on Matthew and Lily shared a connection. Although they had been friends before, now they shared the common experience of being mutants. Matthew felt energized in a new way now that he could share his mutant secret with another person.

One day the two of them were studying for their history final exam together in an empty classroom. They were lying on the ground side by side looking at their books.

"So, Napoleon returned to France again?"

"That's right, they tried to exile him, but he just returned."

"This is quite interesting, Metalloy." Lily had just recently begun to use his code name. Matthew liked the way it sounded coming from her voice.

"Yeah, I guess, but I'd rather study chemistry right now."

"But we have already taken the chemistry final."

"I know, but I've come to like it." The truth was that Matthew like that Lily liked it. To hear her get excited about chemistry, especially now that Matthew knew of her mutant ability, got him excited as well.

"No, we are studying history now."

"As you wish, your majesty."

"You tease me."

He laughed at her, and then she laughed too. Matthew soaked in her joy. _She's so beautiful when she laughs._

Suddenly Matthew had a new desire. As she laughed he moved in and gave her a kiss on the lips. She paused ever so briefly and then returned the kiss. It was a short kiss, but it seemed like forever. When they broke he could see her smile, and he knew at that moment she was more than just a friend. Then they laughed again.

Matthew though he heard a noise outside the room. But he wasn't interested in it. He just wanted to pay attention to the girl in front of him. But then came a knock on the door. Matthew unwillingly got up and walked to the door.

He opened it and found Thomas on the other side. "Sorry to interrupt your study time, but it's a quarter to five and we work a shift at 5:30."

"It's almost five?" said Lily who sounded a bit startled. "I need to get going. Maybe we can get together again soon."

"I'd like that," said Matthew.

Lily left the room. Matthew grabbed his books and followed Thomas down the hall. The silence was awkward.

"Thanks for the reminder, Thomas."

"No problem."

"Look, Lily and I…"

Thomas stopped. "Don't worry about it, Metalloy. Trust me; I can see what's happening. It's okay, really. Maybe it means that you and I don't do as much together, but hey I wouldn't want to stop you from being with her."

"You're really okay with this?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Even if I start dating Lily?"

"Don't kid yourself, Metalloy. You already are dating her."

Matthew paused for a bit. "I kissed her today."

Thomas laughed, "I waited until you were done before knocking on the door."

"I really like her, Alloy."

"Then go after her."

"I think I may."

* * *

"Where have you been?"

"Sorry, Daddy, I lost track of time."

"You didn't answer my question."

"I stayed after school to do some studying."

"Ah huh. Go to your room and think about what you've done."

Lily's father was a kind, warm hearted man and a loving father…when he was sober. Three years prior Lily's mother had been killed in a car accident. To make matters worse the driver of the car was the man she was having an affair with. The double blow was more than Lily's father could take. Thus he turned from a kind loving father into a drunken, heartbroken man.

Lily knew her father loved her, but she always felt like she walked on eggshells when he was drunk. Lately she had been spending more and more time with Matthew, and her father was getting suspicious of her late afternoons.

Just a couple weeks ago she would have never taken such risks. But something was changing. She won't allow herself to admit what this change was. _But then he kissed me._ Now she couldn't lie to herself anymore. _And I kissed him back._ _I am in love with Matthew._

How would she explain this to her father? He might understand when he was sober, but the next time he would get drunk she knew he would get angry. _What if he thinks that I'm going to leave him like Mom did?_ She reasoned through a couple of scenarios as she walked up the stairs to her room, but she could only come up with one conclusion.

 _For now it is better that he doesn't know_.


	6. Lily's Delema

Nichol's Advice (eight years prior to _X-Men)_

Matthew and Lily began dating after the end of the school year. Although both Thomas and Matthew picked up more hours at the store, Matthew enjoyed having the extra time.

He spent the first couple weeks following Lily around different gardens, green houses, and parks. Lily absolutely loved the plants, and Matthew learned more about flowers, weeds, grasses, trees, and vines than he cared to learn in a lifetime. But he loved seeing her excited. Occasionally she would display her mutant abilities. Matthew soon discovered that the extent of her control over plants was quite extensive. She could make them do almost anything she wanted them to do.

One day in a park she displayed her power by creating a flower of a species that didn't previously exist.

"Wow, what kind of flower is that?"

"I don't know. I just made it."

"What do you mean?"

"It doesn't belong to any previous species of flower. I just created a new species of flower."

"You can do that!"

"Sure, I can change the biochemistry of plants, even down to their DNA; creating new species."

"Wow! Do you realize how powerful your gift is?"

"I suppose so. But, hey, when a person discovers a new species he gets the right to name it."

"Well, I'd name it the 'Lily,' but that's already taken."

"You could name it the 'Matthew.'"

"Are you kidding? That sounds terrible!"

"How about the 'Napoleon'?"

"Now that has a ring to it."

Matthew took his prize 'Napoleon' flower home with him that evening. As he entered the door he saw Nichol at the kitchen counter heating up some leftovers.

"When I suppose that confirms it," she said as she points to the flower.

"Confirms what?"

"What Thomas told me. You have a girlfriend."

"Ah, yeah I guess I do."

"What's her name?"

"Lily."

"Is she a nice girl?"

"The nicest I've met."

"Good, maybe I'll get to meet her."

"Now you do sound like a mom."

"Sorry, I can't help it."

"You've been working on your GED studies I see."

"Yeah, Thomas has been helping me with the algebra. But don't you go changing the subject. What do you do with this Lily?"

"Mostly whatever she wants. She loves gardens, greenhouses, anyplace where there are a lot of plants."

"What will you do after you've visited them all? This is a city after all."

"I don't know. Visit them again I guess. You're a woman. What would you have me do?"

Nichol's face suddenly turned serious. "I don't know if I'm the right person to ask, Matthew."

"I'm sorry."

But Nichol turned her head and stared into empty space. "I've had a tough life, Matthew, and men have not treated me well. Honestly you and Thomas were the first men to treat me well. Imagine that! Only fourteen year old boys knew how to treat a lady. I guess my advice to you is that no matter what you do with Lily, always treat her like a lady deserves, and never anything less than that."

"That's what I plan to do."

"I know, Matthew. You seem to know the value of a woman."

"So I should always open the door for her, carry her things…"

"It's not just about that, Matthew. You need to treat her like she's more important than anything else. She's not just there for your enjoyment, but rather that you're there for hers. Don't be demanding on her to do what you want when you want, don't expect her to please you all the time. And don't have sex."

"What?" The last part caught him off guard. Matthew hadn't given a lot of thought to sex, but it had crossed his mind. He didn't think he needed it now, but maybe in the future…he thought. "I don't get it; what do you mean?"

Nichol sighed, "Take it from someone who knows about this: Sex is supposed to be an expression of love, but most of the time it's just a way for one person to use another for his or her own selfish pleasure. Why do you think I was able to do the work I used to do? Never fall into that trap. The best thing is to wait before you do such a thing."

"Wait until what? Till I get married?"

"Until you're sure that you have the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with. So, yeah, I guess marriage is a good indicator of that."

"What about you? Are you thinking of getting married sometime?"

Nichol was surprised at the question. It took her a second before she could answer. "No, Matthew, I don't think I'll ever get married."

"Why not?"

"I'm damaged goods, Matthew. I just don't think it's a good idea anymore."

"What if a guy thinks it's a good idea?"

"What guy would think that?"

"One who knows how to treat a woman."

"Oh, Matthew, you are an optimist! Tell you what. If you agree to treat this Lily right, then I will not completely give up hope for myself."

"Sounds like a deal."

* * *

The Summer of Love

Matthew took Nichol's advice seriously, and he really enjoyed his summer. He spent a lot of time with Lily. They went to parks and gardens. Matthew convinced her to go to a baseball game. It was a great summer.

Thomas tried to get more hours at work. When that failed he took up a summer martial arts course. He and Matthew didn't spend too much time together that summer.

But the summer went fast. And soon the start of the school year was around the corner. Although Matthew was excited to be a senior and enter his final year, but he was not looking forward to losing all his extra time.

On one of the last weekends before the summer was over, Matthew and Lily were sitting on a blanket in a park. The night was drawing near.

"I have to get home, Matthew."

"I know."

She leaned against him. Matthew decide now was a good time to give her his gift.

"Remember that flower you made for me?"

"The Napoleon flower?"

"Yes, that one. Well, I was thinking what I could give you in return, and I thought why not a flower for you."

"You got me flowers?"

"No, just one."

"What kind on flower could you have found?" She noticed him reaching in his pocket. "You didn't put a flower in your pocket did you?!"

"Maybe. Close your eyes."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes, Yes."

"Okay, but it better be good."

Matthew got a bit nervous. He had been practicing this before, but would he be able to do it under pressure? He cupped his hands and formed metal. Slowly he began shaping the metal.

"Can I open yet?"

"No, not yet. This takes some time."

"Please don't tell me you're searching the ground for a flower."

"Of course not."

Now the metal was beginning to take its shape. It looked like a bud of a flower not yet bloomed. He held it in his hands and raised it before Lily.

"Okay open."

Lily opened her eyes and saw the metal in his hands. "What is…?" As she was speaking the metal began to move, the bud opened, and turned into an intricate flower in his hands. Lily's eyes grew wider as it opened.

 _Did it work? Does she like it?_

"Wow, Matthew, I didn't know you could do such intricate metal work."

"I can make the metal do whatever I want as long as I'm touching it. Here take it." He put his fingers beneath the flower and suddenly gave the flower a stem. Lily took it by the stem and marveled at it. _She likes it!_

"Matthew it's beautiful." She kept rotating it and looking at different angles. "You could always do this?"

"Well, it took a lot of planning, practice, and a lot of failed attempts. I've been working on it half the summer."

"I love it." She lean up against him and kissed him on the lips.

Matthew enjoyed the kiss. _It was all worth it._ But he also remembered Nichol's advice. "I suppose I better get you home."

"Okay."

* * *

Back to School

School started again in the fall. Matthew always enjoyed school, but this year he had more on his plate. He found that splitting time between school, work, and Lily was difficult.

On the plus side he and Thomas got in fewer fights. With no upperclassmen to pick on them, they were the big dogs now, and thus unchallengeable. There was also less room for the jealous boyfriend to pick a fight now that Matthew had a girlfriend.

By this time Lily and Matthew were a known couple. This did attract some unwanted attention, but it wasn't bad. _At lease the twin girls have stopped trying to hook up with Thomas and I._

One day after advanced math Matthew and Lily were walking together.

"Isn't it a bit warm for a sweater?"

"Yeah it's a bit warm, but I liked the sweater. Don't you?"

"I like anything you wear."

"It makes me look good?"

"You make it look good."

They got to her locker. As Lily put her books on the top shelf her sweater lifted a bit, and Matthew could see the skin above her waist. It was a bit blue.

"Is that a bruise on your side?"

"No." The answer came very quickly, almost defensively. Lily grabbed her next books and walked away.

This really bugged Matthew. _We talk about everything. School, work, mutant abilities; what else is there to talk about?_ But Matthew knew what else. They never talked about their families. Matthew was okay with that since he wasn't ready to talk about his family. But now too many things were adding together. _She always nervous about getting home, she never lets me meet her family, and now she has a bruise on her side and probably more on her arms._

He didn't see Lily again that day, but he thought of her constantly. His lack of attention in class was apparent to a few teachers, one of which decided he deserved detention. That didn't bother him. He needed time to think.

 _Who am I to ask her about it? It's not my concern. But what if he is as bad as my father? What if he hurts her?_ These thoughts tortured him.

Finally the next day came. Matthew had figured out a strategy. Again Lily wore a sweater, but Matthew just pretended not to notice. At the end of the day Matthew spoke to Lily. "Can I take you to the park?"

"I would rather not right now."

"I would really like to take you to a park today."

"Okay."

The park was not far. Since the summer was over the park was nearly empty. They sat in the grass. "Lily, I want to tell you about my parents."

"I thought you just had a mother."

"Nichol is not my mother. Thomas and I hired her to pretend to be our mother so we could go to school."

"What?"

"Our father was a bad man. He spoke harshly with our mother, and he often hit her."

"You're making this up!"

 _There was a sore spot. I was right._ "No, Lily. Look at me; I am not making this up. My father beat my mother. He came home from work and would abuse her all night. Now, Lily, I need to know: Where did you get that bruise?"

"What are you implying?! You bring me here, you talk of your father, and then you accuse mine."

"Did your father give you that bruise and the ones on your arms?"

"I don't have…"

"Lily…Did your father do this?"

The pause seemed to be felt throughout the whole park. Finally she spoke, "Yes, he did."

Matthew was silent. Lily was agitated. Then she started speaking again. "My father loves me; he really does. He is a good dad. But he gets drunk. And when he's drunk he gets mad. And very rarely does he hit me."

"What about your mother?"

"My mother left us."

"She died or just let home?"

"Both."

"Do you feel safe when he's drunk?"

"No, but what am I supposed to do? Run away from home like you?"

"That's not exactly what happened."

"What happened?"

Matthew paused. He didn't know how she would react, but he had decided earlier to be completely honest with Lily. "He got increasingly violent as time went on, until one night he was hitting Mother so hard that I thought he was going to kill her. Thomas and I defended her, we used our mutant abilities to fight him, and…we ended up killing him."

"You killed him?!"

"Not on propose, it was self-defense. He fell from the second floor onto a glass coffee table."

"What about your mother?"

"She called us murders. So did the cops. Thomas and I ran. We are wanted for murder back in Chicago. Lily, I'm a fugitive of the law. Fitzpatrick is not my real last name. My name is actually Matthew Macarthur. Thomas and I hid in Chicago for two years and now in Detroit for the past three. And this all happened because my father was violent."

"My father would never knowingly hurt me."

"But what if he's drunk? Would he hurt you then?"

Lily broke into tears. "I don't know. I always tell myself he wouldn't, but on the nights he's drunk he scares me…really scares me. But Matthew, he's my dad; what can I do?"

"Let me show you where I live. If you ever need a place to stay, we will take you in."

She nodded in her tears and then lean her head on his shoulder. Both of them laid down and stayed there silently.

* * *

Thomas had finished his school work for the day and was getting ready for work when Matthew came in the door. Matthew had been strange yesterday, but now he looked even worse as he silently walked to the living room and flopped on the couch.

"Metalloy, what's wrong?"

"Lily's father hurt her."

Thomas was stunned for a bit. "How do you know?"

"She told me."

"Just like that?"

"No, I saw her bruises and then had to convince her to tell me about it."

"How?"

"By telling her about our father."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know, Alloy, I don't know." Thomas could hear the despair in his voice. "She really does love her father, and he's not a cold hearted man like our father. He's just a drunk."

"You can give her an invitation to stay here whenever she wants," said Nichol as she entered from the kitchen. She had clearly been listening. "I've seen girls in danger before, and I would gladly open my door to any that needed help."

"I already told her where we live."

"Then just stay close to her. Let her know you're there for her, and us too if she needs it."

"I will."

* * *

Lily's Dilemma

Lily had been thinking a lot lately. The bruises that Matthew had seen were from the worse beating from her father yet. He was beginning to suspect that she had a boyfriend, and he was not happy about it. She had pleaded with him, but he had grabbed her by the arm and thrown her into a table. She had never been so scared. _And then Matthew had to call me out on it._

She was also shocked to hear his story. _He ended up killing his own father. I could never do that, not to my Daddy._

She was in school the next day. She tried to avoid Matthew. It's not that she didn't want to see him. Rather she just didn't want to think about any of it. She avoided him for two whole days. Once he started walking towards her deliberately, but she ducked into a different hallway.

But in avoiding Matthew she ran into the next worse thing. On the third day she decided to hide in one of the supply rooms. She was heading to a corner when someone else in the room spoke up.

"Lily." She turned to see Thomas emerge from the corner.

"Thomas?!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you."

"What are you doing here?"

"It's a quiet place to study." He did indeed have a stack of books. "I heard that Matthew told you about our father."

"Yes, he did."

"I also heard a bit about your father."

"Matthew told you about that?"

"Yes, and it is destroying him."

"What?"

"Lily, Matthew likes you…he really likes you, and it pains him greatly to see you in pain. He wants so badly to help, but he does know how. You need to talk with him."

"I don't want to."

"Lily, this is real. You can't keep pretending like this isn't happening. You may very well be in danger at home. What are you going to do about that?"

"I don't know!" Thomas just looked at her. "I suppose I will just try to survive the year. Then I can leave after graduation."

"Can you make it that long?"

"Maybe…maybe not. Matthew offered safe shelter if not."

"That goes for me and Nichol too. We are here for you if you need it."

"Why would you two help me?"

"Because you're Metalloy's girl, or maybe it's because Nichol and I both have reasons for not wanting to see a girl in the grip of a dangerous man."

"Well, thank you, I guess. I do appreciate it."

"If you appreciate it then stop avoiding Matthew. Don't cut yourself off from the only support you have."

"That's not what I'm doing…" Thomas gave her a look of disappointment. "You're right, okay, I'll stop avoiding him."

"Good, then I'll leave you to this room."

"No, I'll leave. After all this was where I came to hide from Matthew."

Broken Father; Broken Glass

The school year continued like normal for the next couple of months, bringing them into December. But the whole time a cloud loomed over their minds. Lily was to turn eighteen half way through January. This was her countdown. If she could make it until eighteen she would have the option of leaving her home.

As she thought of the possibility of leaving home it also made her sad. She would be leaving him all alone. Lily knew her father was not a healthy man. She shuddered to think what would happen to him if she left. _But what will happen to me if I don't._

And so her senior year dragged on. She reduced the time she was spending with Matthew. Things were not as fun anymore anyway. But whenever he would get a chance he would give her a shoulder hug or a smile or some sign of support. That meant more to her than any date. Even Thomas would give a nod. _These guys are incredible. I think they would go to war for me._

But the ticking clock of her father seemed to be dangerously counting down. Lily seriously wondered if she could make it through the winter break without the relief of being at school.

Then one night her father climbed the stairs to her room, holding a beer bottle and clearly drunk. "Lily, you're going to tell me who this boyfriend of yours is, and you're going to tell me now!"

Lily had been weighting the idea of telling her father about Matthew for the whole school year. She didn't know how to best do it, so she simply didn't. She decided to continue that now. "I don't have…"

He hit her across the face. Lily fell off her bed. Before she could get up she was yanked up by her left arm. Her father grabbed her other arm and shook her violently. "Don't lie to your father! Tell me now! Who is your boyfriend?!"

He shook her more and then threw her into her dresser. Her head hit the handle of the drawer. It hurt a lot. Her father stood before her. Feeling a bit dizzy and extremely frighten Lily began to panic. _He's too far gone. What do I do? He might kill me._

The realization of her possible death made her think quickly. To continue to lie would only make him angrier. The only thing she could think to do was to come clean and tell him the truth. _God, please let this work._

"I do have a boyfriend. His name is Matthew. He is a really nice boy. He treats me well, and I love him."

Her father paused, but Lily could not read his face. _Did it work?_ He stood for a bit longer, and then anger returned to his face.

"You've been lying to me all this time!" He grabbed her again and threw her towards the door. "You liar! You're just like your mother!" He grabbed his beer bottle for another drink.

"Please, I'm sorry. I'm just so afraid."

Then he did something horrible. He hit Lily across the face with the beer bottle. Lily heard the bottle break, she felt the splash of the little bit of beer still in the bottle, and she felt the broken glass cut into her face.

The force of the blow pushed her out the door of her room, but she didn't know that. She tried to get up and run, but she tripped and fell down the stairs. At the bottom she was dazed for a bit, but there was only one thought on her mind. _Run! I have to run!_

Lily managed to get to her feet. The blood from her face obscured her vision, but she still managed to get out of the house. She ran out onto the street. And she ran. Her father's voice was behind her. "Lily, I'm sorry. Come back! I'm sorry! Please! Come back!"

But she kept running. She couldn't go back, not now, not ever.

* * *

Lily's Safe Haven

Matthew was at home studying a bit of chemistry. Without his regular study sessions with Lily, he found that he needed to put in extra work to keep his grades up. But it was exhausting. He got up from his books to take a break.

Then someone knocked on the door.

Thomas looked up at him from his books. He shrugged, but the look of concern was clear. Nobody ever visited them.

Matthew went to open the door, but Nichol shooed him away. She walked over and looked out the peephole. She backed up suddenly.

"Matthew, get over her now." Nichol immediately opened the door and literally caught the girl who fell inside.

"Lily!" Matthew ran over to her. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Thomas drop his books and stand up.

Lily looked like she was in shock. She had bruises on her arms, and blood was coming out of a wound on her face just above her eye. She looked up at Matthew, "I'm scared, Matthew, I'm scared."

"Matthew, help me get her to a chair," said Nichol.

Matthew took one of Lily's arms over his shoulder and helped Nichol carry her to the living room area. Thomas had already turned a chair around and pushed it towards them. They set Lily in the chair Matthew knelt beside the chair and reached out his hand to check the wound on her head.

"Don't touch that wound!" said Nichol who was running to the kitchen. She returned with a damp cloth. "Let me look at it first." Nichol knelt in front of Lily. Lily must have been in shock because she hardly reacted to the woman in front of her until Nichol's fingers hit a sensitive spot on her head.

"Ow."

"Easy, hold on…I got it." Nichol pulled a small fragment of something from Lily's head wound.

"What is it?" asked Matthew.

"A piece of glass, bear bottle from the looks of it. I shouldn't do anything more. We need to get her to a hospital."

"And I think Metalloy and I need to visit her father," Thomas said firmly.

"No!" Despite her shock, Lily's answer was firm.

"Okay, we won't go," Matthew nodded, "but let's get you to the hospital."

"No! No hospital."

"You've been bleeding from the head for who knows how long," Nichol answered in a reasoning voice. "And there might be other pieces of glass. I'm not a doctor or a nurse."

"If we go to the hospital, there will be cops, and I don't want to answer their questions."

"The cops will only try and help you," Nichol continued to reason.

"No, they won't help me. They will just go and arrest my dad."

"Maybe that's what has to be done. If they do that then the cops will keep you safe," Matthew tried to reason.

"You keep me safe!"

Every protective instinct in Matthew activated. Part of his mind was still telling him that she needed a hospital, but another part melted at her plea for help. He simply didn't have the power to say no to such a request.

Nichol tried to reason further, "It's just not a good…"

Lily still looking at Matthew interrupted, "You promised to help me and open your door to me." Lily then looked at Nichol and Thomas, "You all did. Are you pulling back your offer?"

Thomas shuffled his feet a bit. But Nichol simply looked at Lily, and then nodded understandingly to Lily. "Okay, we will help. I'm going to clean this wound. It's not going to be pleasant, but I need you to hold still. Matthew is going to stay right where he is. Thomas, I need some sort of heavy duty tweezers."

Thomas cupped his hands and focused for a bit. When he opened his hands a perfectly formed large set of tweezers was in his hand. He gave them to Nichol.

"Good. Get me the kitchen flashlight now; then go into my room and find my first aid kit. It is under my bed."

Thomas fetched the flashlight, then disappeared into Nichol's room. By the time he had returned with the first aid kit, Nichol was already removing pieces of glass from Lily's head wound. She found a total of two more before she was satisfied. Lily stayed still the whole time, but Matthew could feel her grip on his hand tighten when she felt pain.

Then Nichol opened the first aid kit. "Wow, that's a well stocked first aid kit," commented Matthew. It had dozens of bandages, rubbing alcohol, tape and wrap, and even a set of tweezers.

"Hey!" said Thomas as he spotted the tweezers.

Nichol smiled, "I figured you could make a better set."

"Why do you have all this?" Matthew asked.

"My former line of work occasionally called for such materials," said Nichol as she began to wash away the excess blood from the wound. "I have treated a few other women who have had similar injuries." She smiled at Lily, "They too didn't want to go to the hospital. This is going to hurt quite a bit."

Then Nichol applied the rubbing alcohol. This time Lily's pain was obvious. Her grip on Matthew's hand was tight enough to set off his warning sense, and she did all she could in order not to scream. Then Nichol applied butterfly bandages to the wound followed by a larger bandage and finished by wrapping it tight around her head.

"These butterfly bandages will help close the wound, but they are not nearly effective as stitches. You are going to have a scare there; unfortunately there is no way around that."

"Thank you, so much."

"What do we do now?" asked Thomas.

"We get her some food and water." Thomas went to the refrigerator. "After that you need some rest." Nichol said to Lily. "You can stay with me in my room, and if you want to talk I am here. Believe it or not I may know a thing or two about situations like yours."

Matthew saw the look that Lily gave Nichol. It was one of great gratitude. Then she looked at Matthew. She was about to say something when she burst into tears. And there she cried as she was held between Matthew and Nichol.

Author's note

 _Domestic violence is a very serious issue. While I use it as character back story, I by no means take it lightly. In fact I feel I have an ethical obligation to write this author's note._

 _Domestic violence is an epidemic in our world. It never gets better when ignored. It has a strong tendency to escalate, and sadly it all too often ends in death._

 _If you are experiencing any form of domestic violence (physical, verbal, emotional, or sexual) do not imitate the characters in this story when they avoid the police and hospitals. **Get help immediately!** Either go to a hospital or contact law enforcement!_

 _If anyone you know is a victim of domestic violence help them to contact the appropriate authorities. If that person is a minor or a vulnerable adult it is your responsibility to contact the police. Not doing so may even be punishable by law in some places and some situations._

 _If you are residing in the United States the following number is the National Domestic Violence Hotline:_ 1-800-799-7233 _. The people answering this number can guide and advise you through any domestic violence situation._

 _Taking the right actions in the presence of domestic violence can prevent much pain, psychological damage, and even save lives. Thank you for your attention._


	7. Exposed

Hiding a Runaway (8 years prior to _X-Men_ )

The next couple of days were unusual to say the least. Having another woman in the apartment was strange enough. Lily was able to borrow some of Nichol's clothing. The two of them seemed to get along quite well, and Lily leaned on the comfort and care of Nichol more than that of Matthew. In fact Matthew had to quash his masculine pride a bit and admit that there was much more that Nichol could do to help Lily than he could.

It had been almost a week since Lily had come to stay with them when Matthew and Thomas had to return to school for the spring semester. Lily obviously couldn't come unless she wanted to be caught. Her birthday was in a couple of weeks. Maybe then as a legal adult she could come out of hiding. Until then she never even left the apartment.

When Matthew and Thomas arrived at school they found there was a certain tension in the air. "Metalloy, they might ask us about Lily," said Thomas. "Just act like you don't know anything."

It was during Matthew's third period class that Ms. Grindel interrupted. "Excuse, Ms. Glennus, pardon my interruption, but may I have Matthew Fitzpatrick for a bit?"

"Of course, Ms. Grindel."

Matthew stood up. _Here we go._ He followed Ms. Grindel into her office. But as soon as he entered he saw a man in a suit coat with a badge and gun on his belt.

Matthew had long practiced not showing a visual reaction whenever he saw a cop, but this was enough to get his heart pounding. Nevertheless Matthew took a seat and said, "Good morning, Officer."

"It is Detective."

"Mr. Fitzpatrick," said Ms. Grindel. "Detective Carter would like to ask you some questions."

"About what?"

"About Lilian Davis."

"What about her?"

"Do you know where she is?"

"Home I guess; she didn't come to school today."

"You are her boyfriend, correct?"

"Yes."

"And you do not know where she is?"

"Is she not at home? I am confused, Offi…uh Detective."

"How do you usually communicate with Lily?"

"Here at school, mostly. She also knows where I work."

"You never call her?"

"She never gave me her home phone number, and she doesn't have a cellular phone."

"Have you talked to her in the last month?"

"Yeah, just as school let out for Christmas break."

"But not since then?"

"No, not since then."

"Are you aware that Lily Davis has been missing since last Tuesday?"

"Missing?! What do you mean missing?"

"She ran away from her home?"

"Why?"

"We were hoping you would be able to tell us. We were also hoping you might have an idea where she might be."

"I don't know either. She never talked about her family nor about anyone else important."

"You two never talked about her family?"

"No, and I am alright with that. There are things about my family I don't wish to speak about." At that comment the detective gave Matthew a funny look. _Shoot! Don't talk too much about yourself, Metalloy._ Then the detective stared right at Matthew intensely. _Why is he doing that?_

"What about your family?"

"My father died, leaving my brother and me to live with our mother. Things are good now, but I don't like to think about how things were before that."

"Oh," said the detective as he relaxed his stare. "So Lily has not tried to contact you yet."

"No, she has not."

"You will let us know if she does?"

"Of course, Detective."

"Okay, Matthew," said Ms. Grindel. "You can go back to class."

Matthew left the principal's office and walked back to the classroom. His heart was still racing. He had done well, but it was a close call.

After school he had a meeting with Thomas, Nichol, and Lily. "How hard was the questioning?" asked Nichol.

"Not too, bad. They suspected me, but they have no real reason to actually investigate."

"What if they come here, and find me?" Lily was shaken from the moment that Matthew first told her about the police.

"We gave the school a fake address, so they shouldn't find us here," answered Thomas. "You can relax a bit, Lily. This isn't our first time hiding from cops."

Lily gave a reluctant nod. If Nichol was worried she didn't show it. "It is time to prepare supper. Perhaps some food will keep our minds off things for a bit. Lily, will you help me." Ever since Lily had moved in Nichol's simple cooking had received a boost of flavor. Lily tended to use spices of her own making.

As soon as the ladies moved to the kitchen area, Thomas leaned in closer. "Now will you tell me what's bothering you, Metalloy?"

Matthew wasn't at all surprised that Thomas had picked up on his concern. "I don't like the way that cop looked at me, Alloy."

"You think he suspects you?"

"Sure he does. It's his job. But there's something else. I got the feeling he might have recognized me."

Thomas sat straight and alert. "That is not likely. How would a cop from Detroit recognize two fugitives from Chicago that haven't been seen in almost four years?" Despite his answer Thomas looked concerned.

"You are probably right."

"We ought to stay alert, though."

"Definitely."

* * *

Detective Carter, returned to the precinct. Something had sparked a memory in his interview of Matthew Fitzpatrick. He looked familiar. Then he had learned from Ms. Grindel that Matthew was one of two twins. "Hey Tom, can you find a file for me?"

"Sure thing, Detective. What are you looking for?"

"A wanted poster, particularly one from Chicago about two twin mutant child fugitives about six years ago."

The young officer dug through a filing cabinet. "Ahha, I think I found it." The officer handed him the poster "Do you think you found them?"

"Probably not, but I didn't make detective by not checking out my hunches." Detective Carter looked closely at the photos in the wanted poster and compared them to an old year book that Principal Grindel had given him. "Hmm, now that makes things interesting." Detective Carter picked up his phone and dialed the number at the bottom of the poster.

* * *

Exposed

The next couple days at school were uneventful, and the brothers began to calm down. Lily's birthday was approaching. At that point she could come out of hiding and not be required to move back home. Of course that would leave her homeless. But they were working on a way to allow Lily to move in, without making it look like she'd been there the whole time.

Thomas sighed as he leaned against the school bus window. He was more than happy to help out Metalloy's girl, but the experience of having another woman in the house was tiring. He had grown quite used to Nichol and even considered her like family. But he had not yet gotten used to Lily. _Perhaps I better get used to her given the way Metalloy looks at her._ There was no mistaking it, Thomas' brother was in love. Lily might just be the one.

Thomas sighed again as he looked out at the school as the bus pulled up. His mind was thinking about girlfriends and being alone, when he saw something that made his heart jump.

What he saw was a black Ford Crown Victoria with Illinois license plates.

"Metalloy."

Matthew reacted instantly to the use of his code name in an unusual place. He was sitting on the same seat as Thomas on the aisle side, but now he leaned over and looked out the window. "Oh no. What do we do?"

"There is a chance that he is not here for us."

"Really, Alloy, an Illinois cop car parked outside our school. That detective did recognize me."

"I wager you're right." Thomas thought for a moment as the bus came to a halt. There was no sign of police around the front of the school. "They won't want to make a scene. They will probably call you to the office, for more questions."

"They will pull you out of the classroom."

"That's why I'm not going to the classroom. I'm going to go out from under the stage; you try the bathroom."

"I will meet you at the store two blocks down, Alloy."

Kids began to get off the bus. The brothers each took a breath and wished each other good luck.

* * *

Matthew had no doubt in his mind that their cover was blown. _Four years we flew under the radar. Why now?_ He entered the school building, and just as Alloy had predicted Ms. Grindle stopped him.

"Mr. Fitzpatrick, please come with me to my office."

"See you in class, Matthew," said Thomas as he walked to his locker.

"Ms. Grindle, I really need to use the bathroom. Can I go there first?"

Ms. Grindle's face displayed her nervousness. "This won't take long. Come with me now."

Matthew followed her for a bit, but right outside her office he danced a little in place. "Ms. Grindle, I have to go. I'll be back in a minute." Then without permission he quickly shuffled his way to the boy's room. Behind him he heard a conversation of a few men who had come out of the office.

Matthew just got into the boy's room when the men began to chase him. As soon as the door had shut, Matthew fashioned a crude spike from his metal making mutant ability. He then thrust it diagonally through the door and into the door jam, making an effective door lock. The cops began to pull on the door. But Matthew formed another spike, and using his hand as a hammer broke the hinges on the window. He then turned the window latch and removed the whole window. In a few seconds he was outside and running.

* * *

Thomas dropped off his bag at his locker and grabbed the materials for his first class. But instead of going to the classroom he turned and went down the stairs that led under the stage in the gymnasium. The door was locked, but Thomas had picked the lock several times in his four years at this high school. He was through the door in a matter of seconds. He then made a makeshift dead bolt for the door. _That will confuse them for a bit._

He knew that he had precision little time. The cops would have figured up that he wasn't at class. But he had explored the entire underworld of the school in his downtime. He found a large air vent that lead to the tunnel crawl spaces beneath the school.

Just as he had opened the vent, he heard someone at the door. They turned the bolt with a key, but Alloy's homemade bolt still held. He heard some swearing on the other side of the door. _Heh heh heh! That's funny._

Now he was in the crawl spaces. It was a labyrinth down there. He heard the crash of the cops breaking down the door, but it didn't concern him. They had no idea where he was or where he would reappear.

Thomas stopped under one of the hatches that led to a classroom and listened to the teacher. _Hmm. Freshman Algebra. I bet they won't forget this._ He opened the latch and popped out right in the middle of the class. "Excuse me."

"Mr. Fitzpatrick!" exclaimed the teacher, but Thomas ignored her. He walked up to a window with a chisel and hammer of his own making. He broke the ends of the hinge pins, and removed the whole window.

"See you later… or rather never again," he waved to all the students then jumped out the window. A few minutes later he caught up to Metalloy.

"What took you so long?"

"I had the luxury to leave a complicated trail," answered Alloy.

"Lucky you. I had to run almost from the moment you left me." Metalloy stared back towards the school. Alloy read the sadness on his brother's face. He was going to miss that school. "We need to get some distance between us and here, and then head home."

* * *

Lily was bored. Matthew had left his advanced chemistry book behind, but it was far too easy for Lily to enjoy it. Nichol was a good companion. Lily had been shocked to find out her previous line of work, but she understood Lily very well and was compassionate. This morning, however, Nichol had left before the boys in order to get to work. Thus Lily was all by herself.

Lily was just picking up the chemistry book when Matthew and Thomas burst back into the apartment. "What…what are you doing here?"

Thomas turned to the door, locked the nob, threw the bolt, and engaged the chain. Matthew walked right to Lily. "The cops were at the school. We had to run."

"They were there for me?"

"No," said Thomas. "They were there for us. At least one of the cops was from Illinois. They must have finally recognized us."

"This is my fault."

"No, it isn't, Lily," said Matthew.

"If the cops hadn't been looking for me, they would have never recognized you." Lily suddenly noticed that Thomas was packing a duffle bag. "What are you doing?"

"Packing. We need to leave here."

"But I thought you never gave them this address."

"We never gave them this address, but we ride the bus to school every day from here," said Matthew. "They will figure it out eventually."

Lily watched as the brothers packed in almost perfect unison. Both seemed to naturally know what the other was doing. They would occasionally speak to the other about things like money or food. Lily herself was in shock. _What will I do without them?_

Just then the door began to open. First the dead bolt was undone, then the nob. The door opened but caught on the chain. "Lily, you can open the door. It is just me."

Thomas got there first, and Nichol was surprised to see him. "What are you doing here? You are supposed to be at school?"

"The cops were there. They were looking for us. Our cover is blown. How about you? Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"They were overstaffed." Nichol looked around and saw the bags. "You are leaving." The sound of sadness in Nichol's voice stopped the brothers in their tracks. "I suppose you need to."

"We made up the address for the school. There should be no way in which the cops will trace us to you once we are gone," said Matthew.

Nichol smiled. "You boys think of everything." She lowered her head for a bit, then raised it up. Lily could see a tear in her eye. "I'm going to miss you two. No one has ever cared about me as much as you."

The two brothers walked up and shared a three way hug with the woman who had pretended to be their mother for four years. Lily watched from the side, and suddenly felt the pain of her own good bye. _Or do I have to?_

After a minute or two the three broke their hug. Matthew found words first. "When things calm down a bit, we will find a way to contact you."

Nichol smiled, "Thank you, Matthew."

Then Matthew turned to Lily, and she knew what he was going to say. "Lily, you can stay here for a…"

"I want to come with you."

Thomas looked startled, and Matthew worried. "You don't need to. In a few days you will be eighteen and free to do as you wish."

"But I wish to be with you now. I can always change my mind later, but if I wait till I'm eighteen then I will never see you again."

Matthew's face looked torn between a desire to say yes and fear. "Lily, my past is not going away. This is my life. They will have newer pictures now. I am almost eighteen myself. My face won't change that much anymore. They will always know what I look like. I will always be running."

"Then I want to run too."

Matthew looked at Thomas who gave him no answer and then to Nichol who gave him a knowing half nod. Lily didn't know what that look conveyed, but Matthew now looked directly at her. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"As sure as anything."

Matthew again looked at Thomas, this time as though asking permission. He gave him a nod. "Okay," he looked back at her. "Pack everything you need, we leave after lunch."

Lily packed everything that she had (which wasn't much of anything). They ate one last meal together at the kitchen island. Nichol gave the boys each a hug and a kiss, and she wished them good luck. She even gave Lily a kiss on her forehead, right on top of the almost healed scar above her eye.

Then they left all that was familiar to them, and Lily joined the fugitive brothers.


	8. Epilogue: Interested Parties

Interested Parties (7 years prior to _X-Men_ )

Captain Richard Sten was leaving his precinct on the edge of Chicago and heading home. It had been 3 months since the sighting of Matthew and Thomas Macarthur at a high school in Detroit. After that they had vanished without trace. While he was appreciative of the Detroit detective who was sharp enough to discover the boys, the Detroit Police Department was not following the case up to his standards.

Captain Sten sighed as he pulled into his driveway. He got out of his car and entered his empty house. His wife had left him saying that his work was more important than her, and to tell the truth she was right.

But this night the house was not empty.

"Captain Richard Sten," said a man sitting in Sten's favorite chair in the dark.

Sten didn't flinch. He didn't even draw his gun. "What do you want?"

"The boss wants an update."

"There is no new information. Those boys have pulled another vanishing act. We were lucky that a detective in Detroit even recognized them off an old wanted poster. The only good news is that we have updated photos from their school yearbook. They will never return to either Chicago or Detroit, so my hands are tied."

"Sounds like you need a larger jurisdiction."

"What do you mean?"

"The U.S. Marshalls are looking for some new hires. The boss suggests that you apply for the job. There is no telling the opportunities that await you there."

"The Marshalls?" asked Sten in surprise. _That would be an improvement._ "If the boss could arrange that, then I'm his man."

"I knew we could count on you. Just know this, finding those boys is priority number one for the boss. Will you find them?"

"I will do everything I can once I am a Marshall."

* * *

Summer in Miami was hot and humid. _Whose idea was this?_ Asked Matthew to himself as he wiped off his brow. Although spending time on the beach with Lily raised no objections in his mind. And it was a long way from either Chicago or Detroit. _A long way from the past._

They were here for a fresh start. It was not easy though. Finding work was hard. Finding an affordable place to live that didn't ask questions was harder. But they were surviving.

Today none of them worked, so the three of them were sitting on the beach. Thomas was making a sand castle up from the water, but Matthew and Lily were sitting on the wet sand, where the waves washed over them.

"Ah, the salt water. Think of all the possibilities if I could adapt more plants that could grow in salt water."

Matthew laughed at Lily. "Not the first thing I thought about, but yeah I suppose."

"What do you think about? The history of this beach?"

"No, I think about how the bright sun reflects off the waves and lands on you." He said as he looked at her. She smiled and then let him kiss her. Then Matthew leaned back in the sand.

Suddenly his warning sense went off, and he sat upright. He looked around, but there was no danger.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just had a strange sensation. I thought I was in danger."

"What kind of danger?" asked Thomas who now joined them. "Was it your danger sense?"

"Yes, but it was strange. The threat was intangible, and it wasn't here."

"I don't get it," said Lily.

"Nor I," said Thomas. "I have the same ability as you. Can't you describe it further?"

"It was like a person."

"A person threatening you?"

"No, watching."

"Matthew, you are making me nervous."

"It must have been nothing." Thomas eyed him suspiciously, but Matthew turned towards Lily and smiled. "It was nothing, and I don't what it to spoil this moment."

He kissed Lily again. Thomas make a noise of disgust and returned to his sand castle. But even as things returned to normal Matthew's mind was still bothered.

 _Who was that, and what does he want with me?_

* * *

A man in a strange spherical room took off his helmet and paused in thought. Then he used his right hand to work a small joystick that turned his wheelchair around and rolled towards the door. When the door automatically opened, there was a large blue haired mutant wearing a nice business suit waiting for him.

"Professor," addressed the blue haired mutant. "Forgive me if I indulge my curiosity. For whom are you searching?"

"Not searching, Hank; found. He is a possible recruit, but I don't think I will disturb him at this time. Curious though, his mutant ability had an interesting reaction to Cerebro. I may have to keep this one in mind."

 **To be continued...**


End file.
